Types of Whales
There are many recorded species of whales (80 known species), they are also called Cetacea. But there are two main types of whales that are the Baleen Whales (Mysticeti) and the Toothed Whales (Odontoceti). This whales communicates through whale song, a melodic sound that whales use to communicates and may vary with the types of whales.
In evolution whales have been wandering the oceans all over the world with its descendants the Artiodactyl Order or the Even-toed Ungulates millions of years ago. Whales are mammals’ means they give birth to their babies (calves) and they are warm blooded animals. The whales breathe air like other mammals, with their “blow hole” they can submerge underwater for a few minutes without getting to much water in the lungs.
These are the two major classifications of whales:
Baleen Whales The Baleen Whales (Mysticeti) are also known as Whalebone whales, these types of whales are usually larger than the other type of whale. These types of whales have baleen plates that they use in feeding and also for filtering their food in the water.
These whales are solitary animals in other words they travel in small numbers and sometimes are alone, but in time to time they travel in some numbers. Female baleen whales are usually bigger than the male. The Baleen whales diets are small sea creatures like krill, plankton, amphipods, copepods and small fishes.
Baleen whales examples: Fin Whales Grey Whales Pygmy Right Whales Blue Whales Humpback Whales Right Whales
These whales have two set of blow holes that were operates by muscular flaps when breathing and getting rid of excess water. These flaps help them submerge in a limited time without drowning.
Toothed Whales The Toothed Whales (Odontoceti) have teeth rather than baleen and have a single blow hole in their head. There are over 65 kinds of toothed whales and unlike the baleen whales they are smaller in size. The toothed whales also contain the porpoises and the dolphins and unlike the baleen whales that are graceful the toothed whales are predatory aggressive and very active.
Using their teeth they catch their prey with speed. Their diets are fishes, crabs, starfishes, squids, seal, sea lions and even other species of whales. They travel and hunt in small numbers and can swim faster than the other type of whale.
Toothed Whale example: Killer Whales Pilot Whales Chinese River Whales Bottlenose River Whales Beluga Whales Sperm Whales
They hunt their prey using echolocation that can detect far objects, using this method the sound they released return back like an echo and by that they will know how far, what size and creature are they after.
Whales are considered endangered species due to hunting and human progress, but organizations were built to preserve their existence.