Whales are one of the most amazing mammals that inhabit the watery spaces of our planet. These animals are the largest of all known to mankind today. Moreover, the ocean is still not fully explored, which is why scientists periodically discover new species of toothed whales, usually small, but still. Whaling today has led to the fact that whale species are constantly declining, as well as their population, which is very sad.
Classification
All whales are divided into two large groups, the so-called suborders. Although it is worth noting that scientists distinguish three suborders. One of them is the ancient whales. All representatives of this group have died out long ago, and there is no particular sense in describing them. We will talk about animals that still swim in the oceans and seas, although there is a threat of their extinction.
One of these suborders is baleen whales. In addition, they are often called "real whales." The second suborder is toothed whales. Smaller representatives, which include dolphins and porpoises, but more on that later. I would like to note that different types of whales are destroyed. In particular, this applies to those who have the greatest value in fishing. This is a blue whale, finwal, humpback, etc.
Types of whales: list, brief description
We will start with baleen whales as the largest and oldest. This includes all sorts of whales that are worth your attention. It is easy to guess that you can recognize such an animal by the mustache in its mouth. By the way, the whalebone is also appreciated, so these animals often become the prey of poachers. The largest representative of this suborder is the blue whale. The largest recorded individual reaches a length of about 30 meters with a weight of 150 tons. Moreover, these are completely peaceful animals, the diet of which for the most part is plankton and mollusks.
The bowhead whale is a prominent representative of baleen whales. The length of this giant sometimes reaches 20 meters, the body of the animal is black, without stripes. It is noteworthy that the head is approximately 30% of the total length of the whale. It lives exclusively in the Arctic seas. Today it is an almost extinct species that is extremely rare. The reason for this was whaling.
Dwarf and smooth whales
The smooth southern whale is somewhat similar to the Greenland whale both in appearance and size. Therefore, an inexperienced person can confuse them. Although it is easy to guess that the habitat of animals is very different. South smooth whales cannot be found in the Arctic seas, nor can they be seen in the temperate zone of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Since about the 10th century AD, whaling on smooth whales has only expanded. Today, these animals are under full protection, judging by the latest data, the breeding trends of the genus are positive.
All types of whales, the list of which you can see in this article, are amazing and unique. Take for example a dwarf whale. It was so named because of its small size. Usually individuals do not grow longer than 6 meters. But if you do not take this parameter into account, then the rest of the animal is no different from its relatives.
Endangered whales
The gray whale family is one of the most exterminated at the present time. These are quite large representatives with a length of 15 meters, not having a dorsal fin. In the 18th century, the population numbered approximately 30 thousand individuals. As a result of active whaling, the number of gray whales by 1947 was reduced to 250 individuals. After that, the family of gray whales was taken under constant protection, today these animals number about 6 thousand.
It is impossible not to mention the family of minke whales. These include humpback whales and true whales. Both of them are endangered species of whales. If in the 30s of our century in the Antarctic there were about 250 thousand finals, today this figure is five times less. Of the 100, 000 blue whales that once lived in Antarctica in the 30s, by 1962 only 1, 000–3, 000 were still alive. Approximately the same situation with sailes and humpbacks, which are under constant guard. The largest representative of striped whales is blue. He is the only species of whales that leads a nomadic lifestyle.
Toothed whales: types and description
The order of toothed whales has a large number of families. Their presence of teeth unites, although the size, as well as their number, can vary significantly. Almost all representatives have small body sizes. The exception is only the sperm whale. Of course, ocean dolphins and porpoises are the most famous of the toothed whale suborder. Most of them are small animals.
The easiest way to determine the appearance of a white whale. You can do this by the color of his skin. The sizes of belugas are small, usually up to 5 meters. They are found almost everywhere. Sometimes these whales swim to where they can not live. One cannot but single out the only representative of the clan of narwhals - the narwhal. They are somewhat similar to white whales. True, narwhals have a 2-2.5-meter tusk on their heads, which is inherent only to males. The length of the animal is about 5 meters.
Porpoises and dolphins
So we come to the dolphin subfamily. It should be noted that it includes a large number of species and even more subspecies. Only about half of today's famous whales. For example, an ordinary brown dolphin, or simply a guinea pig, is usually no more than 2 meters long. The back of the animal is black, and the belly is almost white. Dolphins mostly prefer warm waters and temperate latitudes. Often swim far up the rivers. Interestingly, a special race of porpoises lives in the Black Sea.
The following guinea pig species live in different parts of the seas and oceans:
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Californian;
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points;
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black
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black bezpernaya, etc.
Appearance of all species differs insignificantly, as well as size. In general, animals, although predatory, are very peaceful. Studies have shown that some species of whales and dolphins have a very developed brain. What makes dolphins truly amazing is their ability to communicate - echolocation. This is a kind of language, most of the sounds of which are incomprehensible to humans today.
Sperm whale family
As noted somewhat above, sperm whales are the real giants among all toothed whales. In length, animals can reach about 20 meters. These are herd whales, which can be found in all the oceans of planet Earth. The exceptions are females and young whales, who prefer to be in warm waters. Today it is not a fully explored species. In particular, it is not known whether males return from their distant migrations. Scientists still have not figured out why they swim so far, although the most likely theory is that they are looking for food. In commercial terms, the sperm whale is very valuable. This was especially noticeable in the years after the Second World War. Near the coast of Chile and Peru, these animals, in particular females, were almost destroyed, which seriously threatened the population. Even today, all oceans of the world are hunted and toothed whales are exterminated. Species of animals are not of particular importance to humans.
