Marine Science Comics | The Giant in the Ocean - Whales

The milk of whale mothers is rich in fat, and whale babies are usually weaned at 1 to 3 years old. Some whale mothers do not eat or drink during the entire lactation period, while others eat and drink normally; some whale mothers take care of their babies alone, while others have grandmothers or aunts take care of their babies together. Although they are all in the same whale group, they are very different.

Our whale family is also very large, with more than 90 species. Scientists divide us into two categories, one is baleen whales and the other is toothed whales. Blue whales and humpback whales are baleen whales, while killer whales, narwhals, and dolphins are all toothed whales.

We don’t have gills like fish, so we can’t directly use oxygen in the water and need to surface regularly to breathe. Looking at the fossils of our ancestors, we can see that during the evolution process, the nostrils slowly moved upwards to become breathing holes, making it easier to surface to breathe air.

There is a set of strong muscles on our blowholes, which can ensure that the nostrils are completely closed when diving and do not choke on water. All baleen whales have retained two blowholes, while all toothed whales have only one blowhole, which is also an important difference between baleen whales and toothed whales.

We come to the surface to breathe every once in a while. Baby whales cannot hold their breath for long periods of time, but when they grow up, they can stay underwater for dozens of minutes. Some whales can even stay underwater for two hours, and breathing only takes a few seconds. The water column we spray when we breathe is not seawater, but warm water vapor that condenses into water droplets when it cools down. From a distance, it looks like a water column. Different whales spray different water columns.

When hunting, we have a secret weapon - "sonar", which detects prey by emitting ultrasonic waves. Sometimes, we can work together to hunt. In addition to ultrasonic waves, we can also make high-pitched sounds. Many modern singers are proud to be able to sing our voices. In fact, this is just the language we use to communicate with each other.

As mammals, we also need to rest. Sleeping several times a day for more than ten minutes or half an hour each time is enough, so there is no problem of suffocation. When it comes to sleeping positions, whales also have various sleeping positions. Some float near the water surface in a vertical or horizontal position, some swim slowly in the company of their companions, and some can enter a deep sleep state with one side of the brain while the other side of the brain remains awake.

When it comes to size, most of us whales are giants in the ocean. Our huge bodies can promote the circulation of materials between different layers of the water when we swim, and our excrement can nourish the plankton in the water. With enough plankton, fish and krill will have something to eat. When we die of old age and sink to the deep sea (i.e. whale fall: refers to the ecosystem formed by large whales falling into the deep sea after death), we can nourish many creatures on the seabed for hundreds of years.

(Photo source: National Maritime Museum official account)