This image shows a picture of a whale's tail sticking out of the water. Whales can often be identified by their tail features.
Click on image for full size
Windows Original, adapted from Corel Photography
Whales
Whales, like dolphins, are part of the Cetacea order. The name Cetacea comes from the Latin 'cetus', which means large marine creature or sea monster! But, whales are no danger to people...
Actually, it is people who are a threat to whales. Over the last 150 years, many species of whales have been brought close to extinction because of unconstrained whale hunting.
Whales strain plankton from the sea or they eat fish. Killer whales do eat squid and sometimes seals and otters too.
Whales make lots of unique and complex noises. We call them whale songs. One song may last as long as 35 minutes. The songs are used in identifying other whales and warning other whales of the same pod.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
"
Science, Evolution, and Creationism", by the National Academies, provides fascinating background on these topics for all, and is particularly useful for the Earth and space science classroom. Check our other
books in our
online store.
You might also be interested in:
Tiny plankton that live in the sea may look harmless but certain types are able to kill fish, poison seafood and even choke swimmers. Now robots have been developed to search the seas for the dangerous
...more
Scientists have known for a long time that whales, the largest marine mammals, have distant relatives that lived on land millions of years ago. Little was known about whales’ land-loving ancestors until
...more
The open ocean, called the pelagic zone, is the largest area of the marine ecosystem. It reaches from coasts to the middle of the ocean. The living things that survive in the open ocean need to have a
...more
The deep ocean is very cold, under high pressure, and always dark because sunlight can not get down that far. Less life can survive in the deep ocean than in other parts of the ocean because of these conditions.
...more
Scientists discovered two fossil whales in 2000 and 2004 in Pakistan. The fossils are a pregnant female and a male of the same species of primitive whale. After much work, scientists have made some exciting
...more
Jupiter's atmospheric environment is one of strong gravity, high pressure, strong winds, from 225 miles per hour to 1000 miles per hour, and cold temperatures of -270 degrees to +32 degrees (freezing temperature).
...more
In July, 1996, it was announced that Dr. David McKay, along with a team of scientists at Johnson Space Center (a division of NASA), had discovered possible fossils of bacteria in a meteorite named ALH84
...more
