Kingdom, Phylum, Sub-Phylum, Class…. Cetacea

1. Kingdom, Phylum, Sub-Phylum, Class….Cetacea Cetaceans are the whales and includes dolphins and porpoises

2. Breakdown of Cetacean Classification: • ~80 Species of Cetaceans (from the • Latin word cetus, meaning whale)‏ • All but 5 species are marine • Divided into 2 Families • Family Mysticeti, or Baleen Whales: no teeth but have baleen:filter-feeders • Family Odontoceti, or Toothed Whales: carnivorous hunters

3. Unlike the Pinnepeds, the Cetaceans spend their entire lives in the water • Like all mammals, they • Breathe air with Lungs • Are Endotherms • Have an efficient 4-Chambered Heart • Have Placental fetus development • Nurse young with Mammary glands • Are highly Intelligent

4. AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT ADAPTATIONS: • THESE HELP THEM BECOME SUCCESSFUL IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS • Front appendages are modified in anterior flippers • Most have a dorsal fin • Rear appendages modified into a tail—this ends in a pair of fin-like horizontal “flukes” • The pelvic girdle and hind limbs are greatly reduced in size • Have internal ears- external ears not needed underwater; more streamlined

5. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF WHALES • 1- BLUBBER: As in the pinnepeds, their blubber provides insulation, buoyancy & storedenergy • This was, of course, the primary commercial reason many of these organisms were hunted almost to extinction • Blubber is cut off the carcass and heated on-board ships in huge caldrons • These sailing ships could easily be spotted due to the dark smoke from blubber burned to heat the same cauldrons • It is then cooked down to melt the fat, which is strained and poured up into barrels as whale oil • This was distributed and sold nation-wide as the energy source for oil lamps in the age before kerosene was refined from petroleum and natural gas from wells.

6. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF WHALES • 2- BLOWHOLE: this nostril adaptation is either a single vent in Odontoceti or a two-hole vent in Mysticeti • 3- ECHOLOCATION: Only Odontoceti utilize this specialized sound and hearing application • An enlarged part of the brain known as a “melon” processes echolocation • Using echolocation, they can determine size, distance and shape of objects underwater • Mysticeti do not use echolocation • 4- VOCALIZATION: Whales produce the loudest animal sounds on earth; but not from vocal cords: it is from their respiratory system using the blowhole! • Humpback Whale “songs” • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whale_songs • Loudest animal sound produced is by the Sperm Whale, 180dB

7. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF WHALES • 5-BALEEN: Instead of teeth the Mysticeti have tough, flexible baleen • Baleen is composed of keratin (like bird feathers are!)‏ • Commercially harvested for use in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas rods and other similar devices requiring strength and flexibility • Replaced today by metal, graphite and fiberglass rods • 6- AMBERGRIS: produced in the bile of the sperm whale, it is a greasy substance that is expelled via the anus or mouth and floats on the water; harvested when it washes ashore • Commercially harvested, it is an exotic, valuable perfume base • Nowadays it has mostly been replaced by synthetic substances • 7- MEAT: Several countries utilize whale meat as a food; Japan is notable, as well as Iceland and the Faeroe Islands; plus native tribes as a part of their cultural heritage

8. WHALE BEHAVIORS:Breaching An activity when whales rise out of the water, surfacing up into the air They dramatically come out of the water, then suddenly fall back Grey whales are famous for breaching http://www.acsonline.org/index.html http://www.greywhale.com/whale%20breaching%20photos.htm

9. Sounding An activity when the whale's flukes surface vertically into the air as the whale deeply dives http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgfDxmesz00&feature=player_embedded Sounding Beaching • An activity when the a whale strands itself onshore • Their skeleton cannot support their weight • They dehydrate; they may drown in high tide • The whale may be ill; it may be disoriented

10. Sounding ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ • Beaching

11. Family Mysticeti: the Baleen Whales • Unique because of their baleen • 11 species • Primarily plankton eaters (krill)‏ • Sustenance hunting allowed by Inuits, et al

12. Baleen/Mysticeti Whale Anatomy • The throat grooves are properly called rorquals; like an accordion, they have expanding pleats • The beak, or nose area is a rostrum; • The toothed whales • There are two vents in the Baleen Whale blowhole.

13. Baleen – rows of flexible, fibrous plates that hang from upper jaws • Made of the same material as our hair and nails (keratin) • Inner edge of each baleen plate has hair-like bristles that overlap and form a dense mat in the roof of the mouth • Up to 3' long!

14. Baleen whales eat by taking in huge mouthfuls of water with concentrations of plankton • The mouth opens and the rorquals expand to accommodate the water • The rorquals compress, straining the water through the baleen • Plankton is caught on the bristles of the baleen • The huge tongue passes over the inside of the baleen to wipe the plankton off and swallow it

15. The Mysticeti Whales & Whaling • Whaling was probably sustainable until inventions like... • The Exploding Harpoon • Steam and diesel-electric Power • Inflation techniques to prevent carcasses from sinking • With International Whaling Commission regulations and protective laws in almost all countries, the large whales are fighting their way back from near extinction • However, a ten-year moratorium on commercial whaling may be lifted if pro-whaling countries have their way!

16. Commercial Whaling Rt. 1930's California Coast Above- exploding harpoons Rt.- Deck of Modern Japanese Whaling Ship http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121984941913476621.html

17. The Diet: • Krill: >85 spp; crustaceans • Keystone species - most important part of baleen whales' diet • Antarctic Krill ~2.3” long; weigh <2 gm • Will “swarm” with densities 10,00-30,00/m3 • Also eat smaller fish like anchovies, mackerel & herring

18. The Humpback- Humpback whales are active, acrobatic whales. They can throw themselves completely out of the water (breaching), and swim on their backs with both flippers in the air. They also engage in "tail lobbing" (raising their huge flukes out of the water and then slapping it on the surface) and "flipper slapping" (using their flippers to slap the water). It is possible that these behaviors are important in communication between humpbacks. Perhaps the most interesting behavior of humpback whales is their "singing." Scientists have discovered that humpback whales sing long, complex "songs". Whales in the North American Atlantic population sing the same song, and all the whales in the North American Pacific population sing the same song. However, the songs of each of these populations and of those in other areas of the world are uniquely different. A typical song lasts from 10-20 minutes, is repeated continuously for hours at a time, and changes gradually from year to year. Singing whales are males, and the songs may be a part of mating behavior. From American Cetacean Society webpage

19. The Blue Whale- Largest animal to ever live A single 90-foot blue whale could yield up to 120 barrels of oil, and the blues were killed by the thousands. The slaughter peaked in 1931 when over 29,000 were killed in one season. After that blue whales became so scarce that the whalers turned to other species and, belatedly, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned all hunting of blue whales in 1966 and gave them worldwide protection. Recovery has been extremely slow, and only in the last few years have there been signs that their numbers may be increasing. Pre-whaling population estimates were over 350,000 blue whales, but up to 99% of blue whales were killed during whaling efforts. Presently, there are an estimated 5-10,000 blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere, and only around 3-4,000 in the Northern Hemisphere. From American Cetacean Society webpage

20. The Right Whale- Hunted by whalers who thought that it was the "right" whale to kill because it was considered "proper" or the [best whale to hunt]. They were easy targets, if you [were] going out in small boats with harpoons and lances an 'easy' business. Right whales swim slowly and float when dead, important in those days Its rostrum (upper jaw) is narrow and is often covered by "callosities," hardened patches of skin that occur in the facial area. The right whale is extremely endangered, even after years of protected status. Best population estimates are 300 -350 in the North Atlantic, perhaps less than 100 in the eastern North Pacific and an unknown (but small) number in the western North Pacific, and 3,000-4,000 in the Southern Hemisphere. Full protection was granted in 1931, but despite over 50 years of protection, recovery has been questionable. Only in the past 15 years is there evidence of a population recovery in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is still not known if the right whale will survive at all in the Northern Hemisphere. Although not presently hunted, current conservation problems include collisions with ships, conflicts with fishing activities, habitat destruction, oil drilling, and possible competition from other whale species. From American Cetacean Society webpage

21. Family Odontoceti: The Toothed Whales • Have a large melon-the front part of the brain • The rostrum is usually elongated • The toothed whales have one single vent for the blowhole • Includes Killer Whales, Porpoises and Dolphins, and Sperm Whales among others • http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/flash/dolphin-montage.html

22. Sperm Whale-Moby Dick was a novel based on the hunt of a sperm whale off New England's coast Its main source of food is medium-sized deep water squid, but it also feeds on species of fish, skate, octopus, and smaller squid. A sperm whale consumes about one ton (907 kg) of food each day. Deepest diver of the great whales-descends to depths over 3,300 feet/1000 m for over an hour Still fairly numerous, but selective killing of the larger males upset the male-to-female ratio so the birth rate seriously declined The average size of sperm whales killed noticeably decreased during the last 40 years of hunting For spermaceti and ambergris; they were two massive hunting periods: during 1740-1880, and modern hunts; peaked in 1964, when 29,255 were killed. Most recent estimates suggest a global population of about 360,000 animals down from about 1,100,000 before whaling. http://www.grindtv.com/blog/17290/dominicas%20whale%20whisperer%20shares%20a%20remarkable%20story/

23. Killer Whales The Killer Whale, aka Orca and Blackfish, is common to almost all oceans and coasts The have a matriarchal society, with the calves living with the mothers in pods for several years Maturing juvenile males leave the pod Mature males have an isoceles-shaped 6' dorsal fin Immature males and females have shorter falcate (curved) dorsal fin Highly social; complex language with distinct dialects between different pods Behaviors include “spyhopping”, to raise their head above water to see prey

24. Killer WhalesCalf nursing (notice it is speckled)Male or Female below? Spyhopping has its benefits! (photo-shopped!)‏ I got your back, bro'!

25. Porpoise vs Dolphin Porpoise Features Spade shaped teeth Triangular dorsal fin No beak Dolphin Features Cone shaped teeth Curved dorsal fin Often prominent beak

26. Whales Size Comparison