Cetaceans are one of the largest mammals, and individual species of whales are the largest animals that have ever lived on planet Earth.
The smallest whales weighing 30 kg are 1 meter long. Adult whales are 30 meters long and weigh approximately 150 tons.
View description
The herring whale, or finwal, was first described by Frederick Martens back in 1675. At the dawn of the 19th century, Count Laseped gave him the name Balaenoptera physalus.
Herring whales belong to the family of minke whales (Balaenopteridae). This is the second largest mammal on our planet.
Hybrids are found between herring and blue whales in the North Atlantic. In Russia, herring whale can be seen in the seas of the European North and the Far East.
What is herring whale?
The average length of an adult is 26 m, and its weight is 70 tons. The upper half of the finwale is painted in dark gray, the bottom of the body is white. The lower jaw is brownish on the right and white on the left. The whale has a light blue mustache.
In the lower half of the body are folds that begin from the jaw. The length of the folds is approximately half the body of the whale. There are about a hundred folds. During the feeding period, the folds allow the pharynx to expand significantly.
Herring whales are long-livers and live up to 95 years. For a hundred days finals can do without sleep.
The dorsal fin is 60 cm high. The whale has a wide tail, which is individual, like human fingerprints. It is impossible to meet two absolutely identical tails.
Herring whale can swim at a speed of 45 km / h. This species of cetaceans is the fastest, and it is also very mobile for a mammal of such a size that is able to quickly change its trajectory.
Finwal dives to a depth of 250 m, and under water, as a rule, is about 15 minutes.
The oral cavity of the whales is not connected to the lungs. In one second finwal breathes 2 thousand liters of air.
At the time of the ascent, the whales breathe in and the hot air comes in contact with the cold, so each time a whale comes up, the herring releases a small fountain of condensed steam. The water fountain can reach 6 m in height.
Habitat
Whale loves open oceanic spaces, for this reason it can not be found in coastal waters. Herring whale habitats extend to the polar and tropical regions. A significant part of the finals lives in cool waters.
Herring whales communicate through low-frequency sounds. In the mating season, males make sounds, so they call females. Finials can make low-frequency sounds that the human ear cannot catch. The sound helps whales to navigate in space, they are constantly listening, because they have underdeveloped vision and no sense of smell.
Finals live in small flocks of 6-10 individuals, and during the period of migration are combined into groups of 200 individuals. With the development of shipping, the level of hum in the ocean also increased, which, in turn, negatively affected the whale population, since it became more difficult for males to attract females.
Food
Northern finwal, or herring whale, feeds on crustaceans and small fish (sardine, capelin, herring, pollock). Seeing a large school of fish, the whale whirls around it at great speed, thereby driving it into a heap.
In one day, a mammal eats up two tons of living creatures. A whale swallows 10 kg of seafood at a time. To get rid of the water that the whale swallowed, he closes his mouth and begins to push it out with his tongue. Water passes through a whalebone, and marine life settles on it, it remains only to lick and swallow its prey. A herring whale spends about three hours a day feeding.
Breeding
Cetaceans mate in warm waters mainly in the winter. Once every 3 years, the female reproduces offspring. Pregnancy lasts 11 months. The weight of the just born herring whale is 2 tons, and its length is 7 m.
The baby feeds on mother’s milk for 7 months. A kitten consumes about 370 liters of milk every day. By the time the whale begins to feed on its own, its size is 12 m and its weight is about 20 tons.
