WHALES

General Characteristics

Of all the earth's animals, none is more fascinating than the whales, members of the order Cetacea. Although whales spend their lives in the sea, they are warm-blooded mammals. And just like land mammals, whale calves nurse on their mothers' milk.

One species of whale, the great Blue whale, is the largest creature that has ever lived. Larger than the largest of ancient dinosaurs, blue whales can grow to be more than 100 feet long and weigh more than 150 tons. Of course, not all whales are as large as the great blue. The Pilot whale, for example, grows to about 28 feet. And those popular members of the whale family, porpoises, range from 3 to 13 feet in length.

Orca Whale
One of the species of toothed whales that include Sperm Whale and Narwhals, Orcas are the most widely distributed of all the earth's mammals. The fast-swimming Orca (Orcinus orca) is generally considered to be the most feared of all the ocean predators, though documented attacks on humans are very rare.

A medium-length cetacean, the Orca's teeth more than make up for any lack of size. In adults, they may be almost 5 inches long, curving inwards and backwards. The teeth also interlock when the jaws close. Orcas are heavily-bodied, with a round head, a tall, triangular dorsal fin, and abnormally large flippers, which sometimes grow to 20 percent of body length.

At birth, calves are usually about 8 ft. The adult male Orca grows to about 27 ft. (maximum 32 ft.), while the female reaches an average of about 23 ft. (maximum 28ft.). As for color, Orcas are basically black above, with a sharply defined white underside. A dramatic white spot appears above the eye. The Orca social unit is the pod, an extended family of 5-20 members. Fish, squid, skates, sharks, seals, sea lions, sea otters and other whales are among their principal foods. Orcas also produce a range of distinctive calls, some of which are specific to particular pods.

Beluga Whale

The Beluga, or White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) makes its home in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and adjoining seas, such as the Sea of Okhotsk, Hudson Bay, and the Bering Sea.

Beluga males average 14 ft. in length and weigh approximately 1,400 lbs. at maturity. Females usually reach 13 ft. and weigh considerably less-- about 900 lbs. Calves are about 4 ft. at birth, weighing in at about 100 lbs.

Belugas are not born white. Calves are gray for the first year, with pigment leaving the skin after about 6 years. Even then, there may be small pigment traces on the edges of the flippers and tail flukes. These whales have a total of 32 to 40 small teeth and have no dorsal fin. However, they do have a remarkable abilility to make sounds, which lead some early mariners to call Belugas "sea canaries".