Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Whales are the largest animals on Earth, and they are truly a wonderful species.



The blue whale, which is the biggest of all the whales, is longer than a basketball court and as heavy as 100 cars.



The tongue of a blue whale can weigh as much as an elephant. Other giants are the fin whale, sperm whale, and humpback whale. Whales come in different colors; gray, gray-blue, black, and white. Although they live in water, whales are not fish – they are mammals, like you.



At the tops of their heads, whales have blowholes, like nostrils, to breathe.



They cannot breathe underwater. No matter how deep they dive, they come up to the surface for air.



When they are underwater, they hold their breath by keeping the blowholes closed. Sperm whales can hold their breath underwater for up to two hours. Different whales live in different parts of the world. Some live in the Atlantic Ocean, or Pacific Ocean, and others live in parts of the Arctic. Some whales migrate every year, which means they travel north to the Arctic in the summer.



In winter, to escape the cold, they swim south to Mexico where the waters are warmer.



Did you know that some whales have teeth and others are toothless? Blue whales, fin whales, gray whales, and humpbacks have something called baleen instead of teeth.



Baleen is actually hundreds of long, thin plates that feel like fingernails and are attached to the upper jaw of the whale.



When the whale eats, it sucks in water. The whale then pushes the water out and the baleen traps in small shrimp-like creatures called krill that whales feed on. A blue whale gobbles up about 40 million krill each day.

The whales that have teeth and hunt for food are: sperm whales, belugas, porpoises, killer whales, and dolphins.



They use the teeth for catching and grabbing, not for chewing. They usually swallow their food whole.



Whales have excellent hearing, which helps them in hunting. Some whales hunt in teams. The killer whale’s team is its family, called a pod. First, they scare the fish then they form a circle around the fish. One by one, each whale zooms into the circle and grabs a fish to eat.



Whales make all sorts of sounds: trills, calls, squeaks, and squeals. Whales make sounds and then listen for the echoes.



From the echo, the whale can tell how far away another animal is and which way it is moving.



Whales give birth and a baby whale is called a calf. As soon as the calf is born, it is hungry. The mother gives it rich, creamy milk. Baby whales feed from their mothers for 6 to 24 months. Alongside its mother, it learns to swim, hold its breath, dive, and search for food.



Whale calves are very playful, just like you. They swim, dive, leap, and splash.



They push and throw shells, seaweed, or anything they find floating in the sea.



Beluga whales have a fun game that they play. One beluga dives to the bottom of the sea and returns with a rock on its head.



The others push that beluga around until the rock slides off its head. Then another beluga dives down for a rock and the game starts all over again.