Types of whales: list, photo. Toothed Whales: Species

Whales are one of the most amazing mammals inhabiting the water expanses of our planet. These animals are the largest of all today known to mankind. Moreover, the ocean has not yet been 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 the species of whales are constantly decreasing, 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 singulate three suborders. One of them is ancient whales. All members of this group have long been extinct, and there is no special sense in describing them. We will talk with you about animals that are still swimming in the oceans and seas, although there is a threat of their disappearance.

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 this later. I would like to note that different types of whales are subject to destruction. In particular, this applies to those who have the greatest value in the fishery. This is a blue whale, finval, humpback, and so on.

Types of whales: list, brief description

We will start with baleen whales as from the largest and oldest. This includes a variety of whale species that deserve your attention. It is easy to guess that you can learn such an animal by the mustache in the mouth. By the way, whalebone is also valued, therefore these animals often become prey for poachers. The largest representative of this suborder is the blue whale. The largest registered individual reaches a length of about 30 meters with a weight of 150 tons. And these are absolutely peaceful animals, whose diet for the most part is plankton and mollusks.

The Greenland whale is a vivid representative of baleen whales. The length of this giant sometimes reaches 20 meters, the animal's body is black, without strips. Remarkably, the head is about 30% of the total length of the whale. It dwells exclusively in the Arctic seas. Today it is almost an extinct species, which is extremely rare. The reason for this was whaling.

Dwarf and smooth whales

The southern smooth whale is somewhat similar to the Greenland whale, both in appearance and in size. Therefore, an inexperienced person can confuse them. Although it is easy to guess that the habitat of animals is very different. Southern smooth whales can not be found in the arctic seas, nor are the Greenland whales seen in the temperate zone of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Approximately from the 10th century AD, whaling on smooth whales only expanded. Today, these animals are fully protected, judging by the latest data on the breeding trends of the genus, are positive.

All kinds of whales, the list of which you can see in this article, are amazing and unique. Take, for example, a dwarf whale. He was so called because of the small size. Usually individuals do not grow to a length of more 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 family of gray whales is one of the most extinct at the present time. They are quite large representatives, 15 meters in length, without 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 the stripes. These include humpback whales and true minke whales. Both those and others are endangered species of whales. If in the 30 years of our century in Antarctica there were about 250 thousand finnales, today this figure is five times less. Of the 100,000 blue whales that once lived in the Antarctic in the 1930s, by 1962 only 1,000-3,000 individuals survived. Approximately the same situation with sei whales and humpbacks, which are under constant protection. The largest representative of striped whales is blue. He is the only kind of whale that leads a nomadic life.

Toothed Whales: Species and Description

Suborder of toothed whales has a large number of families. Combines their presence of teeth, although the dimensions, as well as their number may differ significantly. Virtually all representatives have small body sizes. The only exception is the sperm whale. Of course, oceanic dolphins and porpoises are the most famous of the suborder of toothed whales. Most of them are small animals.

The simplest way to determine the appearance of a white whale. You can do it by the color of his skin. The sizes of beluga whales are small, usually up to 5 meters. They are found almost everywhere. Sometimes these whales swim where they can not live. It is impossible not to single out the only representative of the Narvall family - narwhal. They are somewhat similar to white whales. True, narwhals have a 2-2.5-meter tusk on their head, which is inherent only in males. The length of the animal is about 5 meters.

Porpoises and dolphins

So we came to the subfamily of dolphin. It should be noted that it is in it includes a large number of species and even more subspecies. Only about half of today's known whales. For example, an ordinary brown dolphin or simply a sea pig in length is usually no more than 2 meters. The back of the animal is black, and the belly is almost white. For the most part, dolphins 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 species of marine pigs live in different parts of the seas and oceans:

• Californian;

• Spectacled;

• Black;

• Black hairless, etc.

Appearance in all species differs insignificantly, as well as dimensions. In general, although the animals are predatory, but very peaceful. Studies have shown that some species of whales and dolphins have a highly developed brain. What makes dolphins really amazing is their ability to communicate - echolocation. This is a kind of language, most of the sounds of which for a person are not understood today.

The sperm whale genus

As noted above, sperm whales are the real giants among all toothed whales. The length of the animals can reach about 20 meters. These are herd whales, which can be found in all oceans of planet Earth. The exception are females and young whales who prefer to be in warm waters. Today this is not a fully explored species. In particular, it is not known whether males come back from their distant migrations. Scientists have not yet figured out why they swim so far, although the most likely theory boils down to the fact that they are looking for food. In the commercial plan, the sperm whale is very valuable. This became especially noticeable in the years after the Second World War. Near the coast of Chile and Peru, these animals, particularly females, were virtually destroyed, which seriously threatened the population. Even today, in all the oceans of the world, hunting and extinction of toothed whales. Species of animals do not have special significance for humans.

Conclusion

Here we have examined the main types of whales. Names to these animals were appropriated not by one people of the world and not only in the 21st century. Unfortunately, even today we are actively fishing. How many species of whales are left today? About 40, and this despite the fact that before they were more than a hundred. It's one thing when this process is controlled, and quite another, when there is uncontrolled catching and destruction.

Of course, one can say endlessly that insulin and other hormones are extracted from the brain of the whale, and from the liver - vitamin A. In addition, meat is used to make expensive sausages. But all this can be found in nature, without destroying various kinds of whales and without reducing their population. Well, that's all there is to tell about the whales and the diversity of their species. Most of them are calm animals, which rarely attack a person.