Whale dimensions are maximum. The blue whale (blue whale) is the largest animal on earth. Types of blue whales, their capabilities and behavior

Blue whale or blue whale - a marine animal that is a representative of the order of cetaceans. The blue whale belongs to the baleen whales of the minke whale genus. The blue whale is the largest whale on the planet. In this article you will find a description and photo of the blue whale, learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of this huge and amazing animal.

The blue whale looks very huge, but it has an elongated and slender body. The large head of this whale is equipped with small eyes and a sharp snout with a wide lower jaw. The blue whale has a blowhole, when exhaling from which it releases a vertical fountain of water up to 10 meters high. On the head in front of the blowhole, the blue whale has a noticeable longitudinal ridge, which is called the "breakwater".

The blue whale has a dorsal fin that is strongly shifted back. This fin is very small and shaped like a pointed triangle. The rear edge of the whale's fin is covered with scratches, which form an individual pattern for each whale. By such drawings, researchers can distinguish each individual. The length of this fin is only 35 cm.

The blue whale has narrow, elongated pectoral fins that reach up to 4 meters in length. The caudal fin of a blue whale reaches up to 8 meters wide, it has a thick caudal stalk and a small notch. All these elements help the blue whale to easily manage its big body in water.

The blue whale looks very unusual, thanks to its longitudinal stripes. Like all minke whales, the blue whale has many longitudinal stripes on the underside of its head that continue down its throat and belly. These stripes are formed by the folds of the skin and help the blue whale's throat stretch when it swallows a large volume of water with food. There are usually about 60-70 such stripes in a blue whale, but sometimes more.

The blue whale is the largest whale of all cetaceans at present. Also, the blue whale is the largest animal on Earth. The size of the blue whale is huge and makes a strong impression. Giants 30 meters long and weighing more than 150 tons are amazing. In blue whales, females are slightly larger than males.

The largest blue whale is known - this is a female, which had a length of 33 meters, with a body weight of 190 tons. Among males, the largest blue whale weighed 180 tons, with a body length of 31 meters. Huge blue whales over 30 meters long are extremely rare today. Therefore, in our time, the length of the blue whale has somewhat decreased. At the same time, the mass of the blue whale also became slightly smaller.

The length of the blue whale in males varies from 23 to 25 meters. The length of the blue whale in females ranges from 24 to 27 meters. The weight of the blue whale is as striking as its length. The weight of the blue whale ranges from 115 to 150 tons. Individuals that live in the Northern Hemisphere are a couple of meters smaller in size than those that live in the Southern Hemisphere.

Vision and sense of smell in a large blue whale are poorly developed. But his hearing and touch are well developed. The big blue whale has a huge lung capacity. The amount of blood in a large blue whale is over 8 thousand liters. The tongue of the blue whale weighs up to 4 tons. Despite such impressive figures, the blue whale has a narrow throat, its diameter is only 10 cm. The heart of the blue whale weighs a whole ton and is the largest heart in the entire animal world. At the same time, his pulse is usually 5-10 beats per minute and rarely exceeds 20 beats.

The skin of the blue whale looks smooth and even, except for the presence of stripes on the throat and belly. Blue whales almost do not overgrow with various crustaceans, which often settle on other whales in large numbers. The blue whale looks pretty monotonous. It has a predominantly gray skin color, with a blue tint. Sometimes the blue whale looks more grey, and it happens that its color has more blue tones. In a blue whale, the lower jaw and head are the darkest in color, the back is lighter, the sides and belly are the lightest on the whole body.

There are gray spots on the body of the blue whale, they have a different shape and size. By these spots, one or another whale can be distinguished. Thanks to this coloring, the blue whale looks like it is made of marble. In the tail part, the number of spots increases. Pectoral fins blue whale with inside have a much lighter color than the rest of the body. However, the underside of the tail is much darker than the rest of the body. Through the water column, this whale looks completely blue, in connection with which the blue whale is called blue.

In cold waters, the color of the blue whale takes on a greenish tint, as the skin of this mammal is overgrown with microscopic algae, which form a film on its skin. The acquisition of this shade is characteristic of all baleen whales. Upon the return of the whales to more warm waters, this plaque disappears.

Inside the mouth of this giant there are whalebone plates, about a meter long, which are composed of keratin. The longest whalebone plates are in the back rows, and in the front part their length decreases to 50 cm. These plates reach a width of about half a meter. One plate of whalebone can weigh up to 90 kg. In total, the blue whale has 800 plates on the upper jaw, 400 on each side. The blue whale's whisker has a deep black color. The plates of the whalebone are in the form of an inverted triangle, the top of which is crushed into a hair-like fringe, which is rather rough and hard.

There are three subspecies of the blue whale - northern, southern and pygmy, which are slightly different from each other. Sometimes another subspecies stands out - the Indian blue whale. The first two subspecies prefer cold circumpolar waters, while the rest inhabit mainly tropical seas. All subspecies have almost the same lifestyle. The life expectancy of a blue whale is quite large and can be 90 years old, the oldest of the whales was 110 years old. The average life span of blue whales is 40 years.

Previously, the blue whale's habitat was the entire world's oceans. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of huge blue whales began to decline rapidly due to active fishing. Giant size animal carcasses attracted whalers. Indeed, from one large blue whale one could get a lot of fat and meat. So by 1960, the blue whale was almost destroyed and was on the verge of complete extinction, there were no more than 5 thousand individuals left.

Now the great blue whale is still very rare - total of these animals is about 10 thousand individuals. The main threat to blue whales is the pollution of the seas and the disruption of their usual way of life. Also, the growth in the number of blue whales is affected by their slow natural reproduction.

The blue whale lives in the waters of many states and territories throughout our planet. Previously, the habitat of the blue whale occupied the entire oceans. Now the blue whale lives in different waters, depending on the subspecies. The northern and southern subspecies of blue whales live in cold waters. The southern subspecies is mainly found in cold subantarctic waters. Life in warmer waters is preferred by pygmy whales.

The animal blue whale rises very far to the north - southern blue whales have been seen off the coast of Chile, South Africa and Namibia. IN Indian Ocean the blue whale lives in equatorial waters all year round. They are especially often seen near Ceylon and the Maldives, as well as in the Gulf of Aden and near Seychelles. This best places on the planet, for those who wish to see whales.

In the Pacific, blue whales are found off the coast of Chile. But off the coast from Costa Rica to California, they are absent. At the same time, blue whales are becoming numerous in the waters of California. The blue whale lives from the coast of Oregon to the Kuril Islands and to the Aleutian Ridge, but does not go far into the Bering Sea.

In the waters around Japan and Korea, great blue whales are now absent, but have been seen before. Blue whales are extremely rare in Russian waters. Small groups and solitary animals were seen near Cape Lopatka (the southernmost point of the Kamchatka Peninsula).

In the North Atlantic, blue whales are few in number compared to those in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North Atlantic, the blue whale lives off the coast of Canada, in areas between Nova Scotia and the Davis Strait.

Blue whales are found off Iceland and in the Danish Strait. Previously, the blue whale lived off the northwest coast of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and off the coast of Norway. Occasionally, blue whales can be found off the coast of Spain and Gibraltar.

Blue whales are known to migrate. Whales spend their summers in the high latitudes of both hemispheres, but with the onset of winter, they migrate to warmer areas of low latitudes. The winter migrations of the blue whale in the North Atlantic are poorly understood. It is still unclear why blue whales always leave Antarctica by winter and move north to warmer waters. Despite the fact that the former place still has enough food.

This probably happens because females, at the birth of their cubs, tend to take them away from cold areas. Since the blue whale cubs have a poorly developed fat layer and therefore are not sufficiently protected from the cold. After all, a developed fat layer helps to maintain the body temperature of blue whales even in the coldest waters.

Blue whales live alone, sometimes not large groups. But even in groups they swim separately. Mammal blue whale is diurnal. The blue whale lives by using vocal signals to communicate with relatives. The sounds that the blue whale makes are infrasounds. They are very intense. Blue whales use infrasonic signals to communicate over long distances during migrations.

Blue whales are able to communicate using signals at a distance of up to 33 km. The voice of the blue whale is extremely loud. There are known cases of registration of a very intense voice of a blue whale at a distance of 200, 400 and even 1600 km. Also, the blue whale uses its signals to find a partner to create a family.

In general, the blue whale lives, showing the greatest tendency to loneliness than all other cetaceans. But sometimes blue whales live in small groups. In places where food is abundant, they can form conspicuous aggregations that divide into small groups. In these groups, blue whales are kept separately. But the total number of such concentrations of blue whales can reach 50-60 individuals.

The blue whale can dive quite deep. The blue whale is able to dive to a depth of 500 meters for up to 50 minutes. The usual dives of a blue whale that feeds are within 100-200 meters of depth. Such dives last from 5 to 20 minutes.

A feeding whale dives rather slowly. After surfacing, the whale's breathing accelerates, while it emits a fountain. When breathing is restored, the whale dives again. The blue whale in a calm state breathes up to 4 times per minute. Young whales breathe more often than adults. After a long deep dive, the blue whale makes a series of short dives and shallow dives. During this time, the whale swims 40-50 meters.

The blue whale looks quite imposing and impressive when it jumps out of the water. The most spectacular dives are the first after rising from the depths and the last before diving. The whale emerges, showing the very top of the head, then the back, dorsal fin and caudal peduncle.

When a blue whale dives to a depth, it strongly tilts its head down. When the head is already deep under water, a part of its back with a fin is shown on the surface, which always goes under the water last. The whale descends lower and lower until it hides under water without showing its tail. The blue whale lives by spending 94% of its time underwater.

On short distances, the blue whale can reach speeds of up to 37 km/h, and in some cases up to 48 km/h. But the whale cannot maintain such a speed for a long time, because this is too much load on the body. The whale produces up to 500 horsepower at this speed. A feeding blue whale moves slowly, within 2-6 km/h. But during migrations, its speed increases to 33 km/h.

Because the whale is so massive, adult blue whales have no natural predators. But juvenile blue whales can become victims of killer whale attacks. These predators in a flock drive the whale to a depth where it weakens from a lack of oxygen. Killer whales will be able to tear and eat a weakened animal.

There are currently no direct threats to the blue whale population. But there is a danger posed to them by long nets of 5 km. In such networks, a huge number of people die. marine life, although only one case of death of blue whales in them is known. In other cases, according to fishermen, large blue whales easily overcame such nets. Off the coast of Western Canada, blue whales have many markings on their skin from various fishing gear.

Also, blue whales die in the Pacific Ocean from collisions with ships, the average is 1-2 cases per year. Some animals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have scars from ship collisions. This is due to the high concentration of blue whales combined with heavy shipping in these waters. Today, despite the protection of blue whales, even in the places of their greatest abundance, there are still no restrictions on navigation. There are only recommendations to slow down in these waters, which are not carried out by captains.

Now, however, the greatest threat to blue whales is posed by pollution of the seas, including oil products. Toxic chemicals that enter the sea accumulate in the fatty tissue of blue whales. It is especially dangerous when these substances accumulate in the body of females who are expecting the appearance of cubs.

Also, human impact affects the number of blue whales by disrupting their communications. The noise background of the sea has recently increased too much and the voice signals of large baleen whales are often muffled. After all, the noises that ships make have the same frequency as the voices of whales.

In this connection, it becomes more difficult for whales to navigate and search for relatives, which also makes it difficult to find a partner in mating season. The greatest damage in this case is caused by the hydroacoustic systems of warships that operate in active mode.

The blue whale feeds on plankton, which is typical of baleen whales. The mammalian blue whale has an excellent filtering apparatus, which is formed by baleen plates.

The blue whale feeds on krill - this is the main food in its diet. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on larger crustaceans and small fish. But still, small crustaceans predominate in the composition of the blue whale's food. Mass accumulations of such crustaceans are called krill. Below in the photo you can see the accumulation of krill in the ocean.

The fish is playing minor role in the diet of the blue whale. When swallowing masses of krill, the great blue whale may inadvertently swallow small fish, small squid and other marine animals. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on small crustaceans that are not krill.

The blue whale feeds in the same way as the rest of the minke whales. The whale slowly swims with its mouth open and draws water into it with a mass of small crustaceans. The mouth of the whale is very stretched due to the stripes on the throat and movable bones. mandible. Having scooped up water with crustaceans, the whale closes its mouth. At the same time, the blue whale's tongue pushes water back through the whalebone. And the plankton that settled on the fringe of the mustache is swallowed.

The huge lower jaw, which is filled with water with food, becomes very heavy. Sometimes the weight is so heavy that it is difficult for the blue whale to move its jaw to close its mouth.

Therefore, the blue whale, picking up food in its mouth, to facilitate its closing, turns over on its side or back. In this position, the mouth closes itself under the influence of gravity.

Due to their size, the blue whale is forced to consume a lot of food - a blue whale can eat from 3 to 8 tons of krill per day. A blue whale needs about 1.5 tons of food per day.

The natural growth of the blue whale is very slow. The blue whale is the animal in which this process is the slowest among all baleen whales. Female blue whales produce offspring once every two years. This period may increase or decrease, it depends on the density of the population of blue whales. Unfortunately, it has declined in recent decades. The blue whale is a monogamous animal. Blue whales form long-lasting pairs. The male always keeps close to the female, both during pregnancy and after the appearance of the baby.

The duration of pregnancy in a female blue whale lasts about 11 months. Most often, one blue whale calf is born. A small giant is born 6-8 meters long and weighing 2-3 tons. Immediately after birth, a blue whale calf can move independently. The baby is born tail first. The females are highly developed maternal instinct, they are deeply attached to their cubs.

Blue whale calves accompanied by females begin to meet from December to March. Milk feeding in blue whale calves lasts about 7 months. During this time, the baby blue whale reaches up to 16 meters in length and weighs 23 tons.

A blue whale calf consumes up to 90 liters of milk per day. Reaching the age of 1.5 years, the baby blue whale grows up to 20 meters in length and 45-50 tons of weight. The milk of the female blue whale is very fatty and rich in protein. The fat content in it is from 37 to 50%.

Blue whales become capable of breeding offspring at the age of 8-10 years. Females by this age reach 23 meters and weigh about 90 tons. Their full size the length and bodily maturity of the blue whale reaches 15 years of age.

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Blue whale (33 m)

The blue (or blue) whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is by far the largest animal on earth. The weight of his body can reach 150 tons, and the length is 33 meters!

The mammal feeds on plankton, small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods, that is, all living creatures whose body size does not exceed six centimeters. Our scientists even believe that whales do not touch small fish, eating only plankton, however, Western sources claim that they still come across fish along the way, albeit in small quantities, so it is also included in their diet.

At the moment, there are three types of blue whales - dwarf, northern and southern, which outwardly practically do not differ from each other. However, if the first lives in tropical sailors, then the second and third live in cold polar waters.

Individuals usually keep alone, although it is not uncommon for them to gather in small groups. Despite enough a large number of these animals on the planet, so far their way of life has not been fully studied by scientists.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the last century, the number of whales began to decline sharply. This, as you might guess, was facilitated by the uncontrolled fishing of fishermen - of course, because from this one mammal you can get as much fat and meat as no other cetacean will give. Thus, the number of these animals decreased so much that by 1960 there were about 5,000 specimens left in the world, which threatened their existence on earth. In addition, the constant pollution of the seas plays a role. Thus, now there are no more than 10 thousand individuals in the world, and they multiply extremely slowly.

Fin whale (27 m)

In second place is the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). This close relative blue whale and is the second largest animal in the world. According to historical data, the fin whale was first described in 1675 by Frederick Martens. Scientists claim that today there are two types of very similar types of fin whales - Antarctic and North Pacific, the differences between them are very slight.

Interestingly, the size of this mammal is highly dependent on habitat. So, in the southern hemisphere, the length of adults can reach 27 m, while in the northern hemisphere - no more than 24 m. As for weight, females prevail over males - their weight can be up to 70 tons. Unlike the blue whale, fin whales have a much more slender body.

These animals most often live alone, but they can often be found in small groups consisting of 4-6 individuals. Max Depth whale diving can reach two hundred meters, while maximum speed very high - up to 50 km / h. The fin whale periodically needs to float to the surface, since it can spend no more than 15 minutes under water. It feeds on krill, consumes up to two tons of food per day.

Pregnancy lasts about 12 months, after which a cub is born, the dimensions of which are impressive - the mass is 1.5-2 tons, and the body length is up to 5-7 meters. For the first six months, it feeds exclusively on mother's milk. Five years later, the whale reaches sexual maturity.

Currently, the total number of fin whales is about 50 thousand individuals, but just one century ago there were about ten times more of them - whaling is to blame.

Humpback whale (18 m)

The humpback whale or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), as it is often called, gets its name for one of two reasons: either it arches its back too much when swimming, or the dorsal fin resembles a hump so much. Which of these versions is correct, no one can say.

Females are slightly larger than males, their average length reaches 14 m, although individuals up to 18 m long are found in nature, but it is very difficult to detect them. As for the mass, it can be almost 50 tons.

Gorbach is distinguished by its color, which can be very diverse. So, if the sides and back are always black or dark brown, then the belly can be dark or completely white. The same goes for the fins. Albino whales are sometimes seen, but rarely.

Humpbacks prefer to stay close to the coast, rarely going out to the open sea or bays. Scientists studying whales were amazed at how animals can swim - some of the test subjects swam several hundred kilometers without ever deviating from a straight line! With what this is connected, it is not known exactly. Humpback whales are no different high speed- it is 27 km / h, in normal conditions two to three times lower. However, this does not prevent the animal from performing truly acrobatic stunts that it does regardless of the season. The duration of the dive reaches half an hour, but only in winter time- in summer, whales emerge much more often.

They feed on fish, mollusks, crustaceans. In winter, they can starve, using a thick layer of subcutaneous fat as food. It is not surprising that humpbacks can lose up to a third of their mass during the winter.

Gray whale (15 m)

The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is considered one of the most ancient animals found on our planet. Scientists believe that the progenitor of this mammal was born more than 30 million years ago. His photo is above.

As in previous cases, females are somewhat larger than males - their body length can reach 15 m. They live in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, but they constantly make seasonal migrations. At the moment, two large herds are known, one of which is fattening in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, moving closer to the coast of Japan for the winter, and the second in summer can be seen in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, while in winter it goes to the Gulf of California.

Gray whales have incredible zeal, because in a year one individual can swim up to 20 thousand kilometers! The mammal feeds on invertebrates, of which there are several dozen species. If there are problems with food, brown algae can be consumed. An adult consumes up to half a ton of food per day.

The pygmy whale is a separate species of the suborder of baleen whales. This species is the smallest among the other brothers.

What are the characteristics of this animal? Why is it called that and how is it different from others? Where does it live? Let's look at the photo of this animal and try to learn about it as much as possible.

Appearance of a pygmy whale

These whales got their name by right. The maximum size of females does not exceed 6.45 meters. A female of this size was found stranded on the island of Tasmania. The maximum body size of a male, also found aground, was 6.1 meters.

The average size of females is 6.2 meters with a weight of 3.2 tons, males are slightly smaller than females - on average, their body length is 5.5 meters, and their weight is 2.9 tons.

From above, the body of dwarf whales is dark gray or black, and the belly is always light gray. There is often a white longitudinal stripe on the belly. The gums of pygmy whales are white, while the baleen is cream.

In the mouth there are more than 400 plates up to 70 centimeters long and up to 14 centimeters wide. The dorsal fin is located closer to the back of the body, it has a crescent shape and reaches a height of 25 centimeters. The lateral fins are narrow and shorter, they are much darker than the color of the belly, so they stand out well against its background. The tail of dwarf whales is strong and wide, it has a dark color on top and light below. The edges of the tail are bordered with a black stripe.

The habitat of pygmy whales

These whales live only in the southern regions of the oceans. The most comfortable for them is water, the temperature of which does not exceed 5-20 degrees.

There are pygmy whales in New Zealand and South Australia. A large population of these marine mammals lives near the island of Tasmania. Whales of this species are also found in the waters South America and Africa.

Groups of pygmy whales live off the coast of Chile and Argentina, as well as near South Africa and Namibia. For some reason, these whales are not in the waters of Madagascar.

In the south, pygmy whales swim to drift ice, that is, they are local residents arctic waters.

Behavior and nutrition of the pygmy whale

The diet consists of invertebrates and crustaceans. To what depth whales of this species can dive is not known. Under water, they spend no more than 3-4 minutes, after which they emerge and, having rested on the surface, dive again to the depth. While swimming, the whole body bends, so pygmy whales resemble huge fish.

Dwarf whales live in small groups of 8-10 individuals. These mammals swim slowly. Often, pygmy whales swim next to sei whales and minke whales. But unlike these relatives, whalers practically do not touch pygmy whales. At the same time, pygmy whales can be found in the waters of the ocean extremely rarely. The population size is not known.

Reproduction and offspring

Newborn babies are about 2 meters long. The mother feeds the cub with milk for 6 months. During this time, the whale grows up to 3.5 meters. Juveniles, as a rule, swim near the coast.

Puberty occurs when the size of the whale is 5 meters, while the exact age is unknown. There is also no accurate information about how long dwarf whales live, but the approximate life expectancy is about 50 years.

Population protection

Today, pygmy whales are under the protection of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Animals. Also, this species of whales is protected by the Memorandum on the Conservation of Cetaceans. Therefore, we can say that the population is fully protected in legal terms.

Enemies of the pygmy whale

chief natural enemy of these marine mammals is the killer whale. But a small number of whales die from the teeth of these predators. At all times, only man led to the extinction of huge species.

Whale - a marine animal of the chordate type, class mammals, order cetaceans (lat. Cetacea). Own modern name, consonant in many languages, the whale received from Greek word kitoc, literally meaning " sea ​​monster”.

Anatomically, the whale has teeth, but in some species they are in an undeveloped state. In toothless baleen whales, teeth are replaced by bony plates called baleen and adapted for filtering food. And only representatives of toothed whales grow identical cone-shaped teeth.

The spine of a whale can contain from 41 to 98 vertebrae, and due to the spongy structure of the skeleton, elastic intervertebral discs give the body of animals special maneuverability and plasticity.

The cervical interception is absent, and the head smoothly passes into the body, which tapers noticeably towards the tail. The pectoral fins of the whale are modified and turned into flippers that perform the function of steering, turning and braking. The caudal region of the body is flexible and muscular, has a slightly flattened shape and acts as a motor. At the end of the tail there are blades that have a horizontal arrangement. Most species of whales are gypsy dorsal fin, acting as a stabilizer when moving in the water column.

The skin of the whale is smooth, hairless, only on the muzzle of baleen whales grow single hairs, bristles, similar to the whiskers of land animals. The color of the whale is monophonic, spotted or anti-shadow, when the top of the animal is dark and the bottom is light. In some species, body color changes with age.

Due to the absence of olfactory nerves, whales have almost completely lost their sense of smell. taste buds poorly developed, therefore, unlike other mammals, whales distinguish only salty taste. The sight of whales is poor, for the most part these animals are short-sighted, but they have conjunctival glands that are absent in other animals.

In terms of whale hearing, the complex anatomy of the inner ear allows whales to distinguish between sounds ranging from 150 Hz to the lowest ultrasonic frequencies. And due to the richly innervated skin of all whales, they have an excellent sense of touch.

Whales communicate with each other. The absence of vocal cords does not prevent whales from talking and making special sounds with the help of an echolocation apparatus. The concave bones of the skull, together with the fat layer, act as a sound lens and reflector, directing a beam of ultrasonic signals in the right direction.

Most whales are quite slow, but if necessary, the speed of the whale can be 20 - 40 km / h.

The life expectancy of small whales is about 30 years, large whales live up to 50 years.

Where do whales live?

Whales live in all oceans. Most species of whales are herd animals and prefer to live in groups of several tens and even thousands of individuals. Some species are subject to constant seasonal migrations: in winter, whales swim to warm waters, where they give birth, and in summer they fatten in temperate and high latitudes.

What does a whale eat?

Most whales eat a certain type of food:

• planktophages eat only plankton;
• teutophages prefer to eat cephalopods;
• ichthyophages eat only live fish;
• saprophages (detritivores) consume decomposed organic matter.

And only one animal from the order of cetaceans, the killer whale, feeds not only on fish, but also on pinnipeds (seals, sea ​​lions, ), as well as other whales, dolphins and their cubs.

A killer whale swims after a penguin

Types of whales with photos and names.

The modern classification divides the order of cetaceans into 2 main suborders:

• toothless or mustachioed whales (lat. Mysticeti);
• toothed whales (lat. Odontoceti), which include dolphins, killer whales, sperm whales and porpoises.

The order of cetaceans forms 38 genera, which combine more than 80 known species. Among this diversity, several varieties can be distinguished:

• , he is hunchback or long-armed minke whale(lat. Megaptera novaeangliae) got its name from the convex fin on the back, resembling a hump. The body length of the whale reaches 14.5 meters, in some specimens - 18 meters. Average weight humpback whale is 30 tons. The humpback whale differs from other representatives of the family of minke whales by a shortened body, a variety of colors and several rows of warty leathery protrusions on the top of the head. Humpback whales live throughout the world's oceans, except for the Arctic and Antarctic. Representatives of the North Atlantic population feed exclusively on fish: navaga, pollock, herring, haddock. The rest of the whales eat small crustaceans, various shellfish and small schooling fish.

• gray whale(california whale) (lat. Eschrichtius robustus, Eschrichtius gibbosus)- the only species of whales that practices eating food from the bottom of the ocean: the animal plows the silt with a special keel-shaped outgrowth located under the lower jaw. The basis of the food of the gray whale is made up of many organisms that live on the bottom: annelids, bivalves and other molluscs, crayfish, egg-pods and sea ​​sponges and small fish species. Gray whales in adulthood have a body length of up to 12-15 m, the average weight of a whale varies from 15 to 35 tons, and females are larger than males. The body is brown-gray or dark brown, reminiscent of the color rocky shores. This species of whale lives in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Chukchi and Bering Seas, in winter it migrates to the Gulf of California and to the southern coast of Japan. Gray whales are record holders among animals for the duration of migrations - the distance covered by animals can reach 12 thousand km.

• bowhead whale (polar whale) (lat. Balaena mysticetus) - long-liver among mammals. Average age polar whale is 40 years old, but the known scientifically substantiated fact of longevity is 211 years. This is a unique species of baleen whale that spends its entire life in the cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere, often making its way like an icebreaker. The fountain of the whale rises up to 6 m in height. The body length of mature females reaches 20-22 meters, males - 18 meters. The weight of a whale is from 75 to 150 tons. The skin color of the animal is usually gray or dark blue. The belly and neck are lighter in color. An adult bowhead whale consumes almost 2 tons of different food every day, consisting of plankton (crustaceans and pteropods).

• Sperm whale (lat. Physeter macrocephalus)- the largest representative of toothed whales, and females are much smaller than males and have a body length of no more than 15 meters. The male whale grows up to 20 meters in length. The maximum weight of females reaches 20 tons, males - 50 tons. Sperm whales have such a characteristic appearance that they cannot be confused with other cetaceans. The giant head is over 35% of the length of the body, and when viewed from the side, the snout of the sperm whale looks like a slightly beveled rectangle. In the recess at the bottom of the head there is a mouth, seated with 20-26 pairs of cone-shaped teeth. The weight of 1 whale tooth reaches 1 kilogram. The wrinkled skin of the sperm whale often has a dark gray color with a blue tint, although there are dark brown and even black individuals. Being a predator, the sperm whale preys on squid, cuttlefish, big fish(including some species), and also swallows everything in a row that ends up in the ocean: empty bottles, rubber boots, toys, coils of wire. Sperm whales live throughout the oceans, but in tropical waters are more common than in cold climates. Most of the population is distributed off the coast of the Black Continent and the eastern coast of Asia.

• (lat. Balaenoptera physalus)- the second largest animal on the planet. The length of an adult whale is 24-27 m, but due to its slender physique, the whale weighs only 40-70 tons. hallmark fin whales is an asymmetric color of the muzzle: the right part of the lower jaw is white, and the left is dark. The basis of the whale's diet is small crustaceans. Fin whales live in all oceans: in winter they inhabit the waters of moderately warm zones, and in the warm season they swim to the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

• Blue whale (blue whale, vomited)(lat. Balaenoptera musculus)- not only the largest whale in the world, but also the largest animal on our planet. The length of the blue whale can reach 33 meters, and the weight of the blue whale reaches 150 tons. This animal has a relatively slender build and a narrow muzzle. The color of the body within the species is monotonous: most individuals are gray with a blue tint and gray spots scattered throughout the body, making the skin of the animal look like marble. The blue whale feeds on more plankton and inhabits the entire oceans.

• Pygmy whale (pygmy right whale, short-headed right whale)(lat. Caperea marginata)- the smallest species of the suborder of baleen whales. torso adult does not exceed 4-6 m in length, and the body weight of the whale barely reaches 3-3.5 tons. Skin color - gray with dark spots, sometimes black. It differs in an undulating way of movement unusual for whales, feeds on plankton. The pygmy whale is one of the rarest and least numerous species of whales, it lives mainly in the waters of southern Australia and New Zealand.