Whale is the common name for a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, excluding dolphins and porpoises, so to zoologists the grouping is paraphyletic. The whales comprise the extant families Cetotheriidae (whose only living member is the pygmy right whale), Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale), Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Physeteridae (the sperm whale), Kogiidae (the dwarf and pygmy sperm whale), and Ziphiidae (the beaked whales). There are 40 extant species of whales. The two parvorders of whales, Mysticeti and Odontoceti, are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. Whales, …show more content…
Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not as flexible or agile as seals, whales can travel at up to 20 knots. Balaenopterids use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in gulps of water. Balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Odontocetes have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. Mysticetes have a well developed sense of "smell", whereas odontocetes have well-developed hearing − their hearing, that is adapted for both air and water, is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin to keep warm in the cold …show more content…
The North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century, with a population low of 450, and the North Pacific gray whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Besides whaling, they also face threats from bycatch and marine pollution. The meat, blubber and baleen of whales have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide, notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana, who sometimes hold whale funerals. Whales occasionally feature in literature and film, as in the great white whale of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Small whales, such as belugas, are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the
In Blackfish, one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite asserts that the inhumane practice of keeping killer whales in captivity is not the right thing to do. They are animals and they like to be open and free. Keeping killer whales in captivity is dangerous to the animals themselves, it makes them more aggressive, and also has the potential to harm and even kill the humans who work with them. Orcas are simply not meant for confinement. They are very calm and happy when they are in the ocean.
As described in the documentary, “The whale just took a different approach to what it was going to do with a very senior, very experienced trainer, Ken Peters, and dragged him to the bottom of the pool and held him in the bottom, let him go, picked him up, took him down again.” This description allows the audience to know about the situation that the trainer went through. Also entails about the dangers that these marine animals as they’re trapped and trained can do to trainers. Another imagery described in the film was the incident involving Keltie. Keltie was performing with the whales when suddenly she tripped.
Peter Brannen started out with a simple question of what it was like for whales on 9/11.? How did it impact the marine life? And while it may have seemed like a silly drunken thought, let loose in conversation during a night at the pub, it turned out to be a real question with uncharted answers. He set out with Lisa Conger -a biologist to the Bay of Fundy to discover that Argentine whales have been slowly increasing the volume of their songs in order to adapt to the heightening levels of man-made noise in the ocean. As it turns out the low frequency noise of commercial shipping has been slowly drowning the sound of the whales, making it very hard to mind mates, therefore causing a drop in population.
The Great White Shark The Great White Sharks, known mostly because of their white underbellies, are one of the most powerful aquatic animals in the world. They can swim at about 25 Miles Per Hour (40 Kilometers per hour) because of their strong muscles and forceful tails. In addition to that, male Great Whites can grow around 11.5 to 13.1 feet long, while females can grow from 14.8 to 16.4 feet long. This paper will demonstrate how Great White Sharks are an important part of their ecosystem, how their diets work and will adequately describe their habitats. As predators in their ecosystem, Great White sharks help maintain the coral reefs and seagrass habitats.
North Atlantic Right Whales are dying and
Whale talk, a book about a teen named tj, who struggled with family values and friends. With a little courage, and an oddball group of kids on a swim team, they learn that if you keep on going, you can and will succeed. Chris crutcher, the author of this book, is a special writer. The reason i say that is due to the fact that, he writes his books using examples of modern day themes and situations. Crutcher wrote whale talk around a few themes/messages that he wanted to pursue, and one of the messages was that if you have perseverance, you will keep on going no matter what situation you are in, and that is exactly what crutcher showed in his book, whale talk.
In 2000, a mass stranding of whales in the Bahamas revealed hemorrhaging near the brain, ear, and fats in the head from a sonar used by the U.S. Navy during an exercise (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and US Department of the Navy 2001). In 2002, another stranding occurred in the Canary Islands and pathologists examined the bodies of stranded beaked whales to reveal hemorrhaging in the same areas of the head as the whales from the Bahamas, as well as in the kidneys (Fernández et al. 2005). Upon further inspection, there seemed to be other complications, such as lesions and embolisms, in the vessels and tissues surrounding organs. Fernandez et al.
Although the orca can be found in both in the open ocean and in the coastal waters, they primarily inhabit the continental shelf’s in the water less than 200 meters deep. In the cold water area is the most distribution limited by the seasonal pack ice. The killer whale is the top carnivore consumer on the food web. Killer whales may be large in size and appetite, but they still act on instinct and have no desire to kill intentionally. The killer whale is also a very playful and intelligent creature like most dolphins are, therefore they do not deserve the name killer whale.
The first reason why I think should not be in captivity is of what happens in their tank. The first piece of evidence from the PETA practical “Aquariums and Marine Parks” is that since the tanks for the orcas are usually small for them, they get insane because of the echolocation they use. This makes me think that since their fin sometimes curves, that they would get injured while swimming. In addition, this might make the whale die faster than what they are supposed to live to. Other people might say it might non’t affect it
Director, writer, and producer, Gabriella Cowperthwaite, in her documentary, Blackfish, describes the shameless hunting and treatment of killer whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to persuade us into opening our eyes to the reality of what we are doing to killer whales by confining them in captivity. She invents an emotionally wrenching tone in order to transmit to the adult viewers that living in captivity may not be acceptable life for the whales. The film effectively showed that the whales should not be kept in captivity by giving the audience examples of their signs of aggression and displays of emotion. Cowperthwaite begins her documentary by showing how killer whales can become barbaric when held captive.
This film about these extremely diverse mammals shows true footage of the whales and what they are capable of in captivity. It also talks about a lot of wrongs that are done to the whales in captivity by people who were there and done it or witnessed it themselves. The film gives out a lot of good information and statistics that have been proven by others as well. Because this source focuses on captivity and the poor treatment of whales, as will my paper, It will come to great use when the time comes to use
Andre Cole Ricardo Acosta G. English 101 September 22, 2015 Do Killer Whales Actually Belong in Captivity? Ever since wild animals such as Killer Whales have been captured and kept in theme parks and zoos as amusement, there have been issues on whether they should or shouldn’t be kept in captivity. Killer Whales, otherwise commonly referred to as Orcas, have regularly been taken away from the sea at a very young age so they can be trained, raised and kept in theme parks for exhibition. Although theme parks no longer capture whales from the wild, they are still bred in captivity for public display at marine parks such as Sea World (Gorman).
The Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is one of the largest of the Cetaceans. They are fairly well known, even outside of the scientific community. They are identifiable by their dark grey dorsal color, white underbellies, very long pectoral flippers and by their habits of breaching and raising their tales above the water before diving. Their range expands tropical, temperate, and sub polar waters all around the world. They migrate in search of breading grounds and feeding grounds.
Cetacea are one of the most unique orders of mammals. They include the largest marine animal that has ever lived which is the blue whale, the intelligent dolphins, the tusked narwhals and the singing humpback whales – almost eighty living species in all. Even though a lot of hunting has been done to the family of Cetacea, observations has been dictated that its number are slowly increasing. The oldest fossil whales are grouped together just for the convenience of others.
Some ethnic group believes that it is a cultural right to hunt whales. In Prehistoric cultures were hunting whales at least 3000 years ago (2008), whale hunting were commenced by the primordial ethnic at least three thousand years ago. It is clear that whale hunting is not just done by generation nowadays but has already been done by people in the past. As a whole, whale hunting has become more and more conventional. It seems like nothing is wrong for hunting whales from the ocean.