Whales
huge sea animals that look like a fish bur is classified as a
mammal because of the fact that they have live birth and milk
their young with milk their body produces. Whales have a highly
developed brain and so are amoung the most intellegent of all
mammals. The Blue Whale is the most enormous animal that has ever
lived extending up to 30 meters long and weighing up to 220 short
tons or 200 metric tons. Some whales are much smaller (10-15feet
in length).
The whale has the basic structure of a fish, but differ from a
fish in many ways. The most visible difference is the tail, the
fish having vertical (up and down) tail fins and the whale having
horizontial (side to side) tail fins.
Whales have a smooth, rubbury skin that slips easily through the
water. Even though they are considered a mammal they have no fur
on their body, just a few brisltles at the head. Beneath the skin
they have a layer of blubber, which benifits by kepping them
warm. Actually, rocquails have more difficulty getting rid of
heat than keeping warm. This layer of skin is about 6 inchs
thick, but can be up to 20 inchs thick on some whales. When food
is scarce they can live off of their blubber for up to 3 months.
The layer of blubber is very light weight so it increases
buoyancy in the water.
Whales, being a mammal, have lungs and breath air. Most whales
surface for air about every 5-15 min. but some whales can hold
their breath for up to 2 hours.
Whales give live birth and nurse their young for about the first
year of age. A newborn calf weighs about2 short tons or 1.8
metric tons, and are about 23 feet in length. The cow carries the
unborn baby for about 12 months before dilivery. For nursing in
the rough waters the mother has a special breast muscle that
pumps milk from the mother dirrectly into the babys mouth. A baby
calf gains about 200 lbs./ day until full grown.
The life span of a whale is anywhere from 15-60 years and outside
of man the whale has no natural enimies.