Whales are large, intelligent aquatic mammals that breathe air through blowholes. They evolved from land mammals and are the only mammals that live exclusively in water. There are two main types of whales - baleen whales which filter feed using baleen plates, and toothed whales which hunt for fish and squid using echolocation. Whales migrate long distances between feeding and breeding grounds, sing complex songs, and care for their young for over a year. While whaling was once a large industry, many whale populations were decimated and conservation efforts are now focused on protecting whales from threats like pollution, habitat loss, and human impacts.
3. Whales Are :
• Whales are large, intelligent,
aquatic mammals. They
breathe air through
blowhole(s) into lungs
(unlike fish who breathe
using gills).
• They are the only mammals,
other than manatees (sea
cows), that live their entire
lives in the water, and the
only mammals that have
adapted to life in the open
oceans.
5. Evolution Of Whles
•Primitive whales evolved
during the mid-Eocene
period, about 50 million
years ago. Fossil remains
indicate that whales
evolved from hoofed land
mammals - perhaps the
shore-dwelling, hyena-
like Mesonychid that
returned, bit by bit, to the
sea roughly 50 million years
ago.
•All cetaceans, including
whales, dolphins and
porpoises, are descendants
of land-living mammals of
the Artiodactyl order
6. •Cetaceans include the whales, dolphins and
porpoises.
• There are over 75 species of Cetaceans.
• Whales belong to the order Cetacea (from the
Greek word "ketos" which means whale)
CETACEANS
Baleen whales Toothed whales
(Mysticeti) (Odontoceti)
7. Toothed whales Baleen whales
•predators that use their •predators that sieve tiny
peg-like teeth to catch fish, crustaceans, small fish, and
squid, and marine mammals, other tiny organisms from
swallowing them whole. the water with
They have one blowhole baleen. Baleen is a comb-
(nostril) and like structure that filters the
use echolocation to hunt. baleen whales' food from
There are about 66 species the water. Baleen whales
of toothed whales. are larger than the toothed
whales and have 2
blowholes (nostrils). There
are 10 species of baleen
whales
8. Anatomy
Like all mammals, whales breathe air, are warm-
blooded, nurse their young with milk
from mammary glands, and have body hair
9. SIZE
• The Blue Whale has
been the largest
animal that ever lived
on Earth.
• The adult is 28-33 M
long (98 ft )
The smallest whale is
the dwarf sperm
whale which as an
adult is only 8.5 feet
(2.6 m) long.
10. Special Structures
Blowhole(s)
Features of a blue whale
Whales breathe via blowholes; baleen whales have
two and toothed whales have one. These are
located on the top of the head
11. Behavior
Sleep
A humpback whale breaching.
Unlike most animals, whales are
conscious breathers. All
mammals sleep, but whales
cannot afford to become
unconscious for long because
they may drown. It is thought that
only one hemisphere of the
whale's brain sleeps at a time, so
they rest but are never
completely asleep
12. Feeding
• Whales are generally classed as
predators, but their food ranges from
microscopic plankton to very large
animals.
• Toothed whales eat fish and squid
which they hunt by use
of echolocation. Killer
whales sometimes eat other marine
mammals, including whales.
• Baleen whales such as humpbacks
and blues, when feeding in higher
latitudes (such as the Southern
Ocean), eat mostly krill. They imbibe
enormous amounts of seawater which
they expel through their baleen plates.
The water is then expelled and the krill
is retained on the plates and then
swallowed.
• Whales do not drink seawater but
indirectly extract water from their food
by metabolizing fat
13. SWIMMING AND OTHER WATER ACTIVITIES
Breaching: Many whales are
very acrobatic, even breaching
(jumping) high out of the water
and then slapping the water as
they come back down.
Sometimes they twirl around
while breaching. Breaching may
be purely for play or may be
used to loosen skin parasites or
have some social meaning.
Logging: Logging is when a whale
lies still at the surface of the
water, resting, with its tail
hanging down. While floating
motionless, part of the head, the
dorsal fin or parts of the back
are exposed at the surface.
14. Spyhopping: This is another
cetacean activity in which
the whale pokes its head out
of the water and turns
around, perhaps to take a
look around.
Lobtailing: Some whales stick
their tail out of the water into
the air, swing it around, and then
slap it on the water's surface;
this is called lobtailing. It makes a
very loud sound. The meaning or
purpose of lobtailing is unknown,
but may be done as a warning to
the rest of the pod of danger.
15. REPRODUCTION
Cetaceans give birth to live
young which are nourished with
milk from their mothers - they
don't lay eggs. Cetaceans
breed seasonally, usually in
warm tropical waters, and
females usually have one calf
every 1-3 years. The gestation
times range from 9-18 months.
Whale calves can swim at or
soon after birth. Mother whales
care for their young for an Young cetaceans are frequently
mottled in color, camouflaging them
extended period of time, usually from predators. Newborns have a
at least a year, feeding them sparse covering of hair which they
milk and protecting them. lose as adults.
16.
17. MIGRATION
• Many ceteaceans, especially baleen whales, migrate
over very long distances each year. They travel,
sometimes in groups (pods), from cold-water feeding
grounds to warm-water breeding grounds.
•Gray whales make the longest seasonal migration of any of the
whales. They travel about 12,500 miles each year.
18. WHALES SONGS
Complex whales songs can be heard for miles
under the water.
• The humpback's song can last for 30 minutes.
• Baleen whales sing low-frequency songs; toothed
whales emit whistles and clicks that they use
for echolocation
• The songs are thought to be used in attracting
mates, to keep track of offspring, and for the
toothed whales, to locate prey.
22. • The beluga or white whale or sea canary ,Beluga means "white
one" in Russian , Its genus, Delphinapterus, means "whale without
fins"
• They have one blowhole
• They blow air bubbles …. Just for fun
• their unusual color makes them one of the most familiar
and easily
• They are social animals
24. •Blue Whales are the biggest animals ever
known to man kind. They are even bigger then
the dinosaurs.
BLUE WHALE
•The Blue Whale eats zooplankton[Small
crustaceans]
•The biggest Blue Whale ever to be caught was
a female Blue Whale. It was 29 metres long and
weighed more then 158 tonnes.
•Also, female Blue Whales are bigger then the
males and their blood vessels are so big that
you could swim in it.
26. WHALES VS HUMAN
HUMAN IS THE MAIN PREDATOR FOR
THE WHALES
27. Uses of whale oil
Soap, shampoo, detergent,
cooking fat, lipstick,
margarine, ice cream,
crayons, paint,
polish, lino,
lubricants &
dynamite
Uses of baleen
riding crops,
shoehorns,
umbrella ribs,
brushes, watch springs,
shop shutters, fishing rods,
fans, corsets and crinolines
28. Uses of whale tissues
Skin: bootlaces, bike saddles,
handbags, shoes.
Tendons: tennis racquets,
surgical thread.
Blood: sausages, fertilizer.
Connective tissue:
jelly, sweets
& photo film
Uses of whale meat
fertilizer,
dog food,
animal feed.
Only eaten in Iceland, Norway, Korea and Japan
34. REFERENCES
• Carwardine, M. (2000). Whales, Dolphins
and Porpoises. Dorling
Kindersley. ISBN 0751327816..
• Williams, Heathcote (1988). Whale Nation.
New York: Harmony
Books. ISBN 0517569329..
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subj
ects/whales/allabout/
35. BY:
Salma Mohamed Abdelkhalek Al-anwar
3rd year Biotechnology Faculty Of Science
Zoology Dept. – Benha University
Under the supervision of :
Dr / Hany A. Abdel-Salam
