CONTENTS WONDERINGS WHAT IS A WHALE? SIMILARITIES TO OTHER MAMMALS WATER ACTIVITIES SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR SIGHT HEARING ECHOLOCATION SMELL TASTE & TOUCH PICTURE PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY THE END!

WONDERINGS 1.Does a whale breathe any differently to a fish? 2. How much of their lives do they spend in the water? 3. Do they have any special swimming activities? 4. Are they any similar to Dolphins?

WHAT IS A WHALE? A whale is a large, smart aquatic animal. They spend their entire lives in the water. Whales may be a sort of mammal, but they breathe differently to fish. Whales have blowholes, which is what they breathe through which then goes to their lungs. Fish on the other hand, use gills to breathe with. Whales have extremely smooth bodies that are easier to move within the water. Whales are just about the only mammal that spends its whole life in the water apart from sea cows, (manatees).

SIMILARITIES TO OTHER MAMMALS 1. Whales breathe air into lungs 2. Whales have hair. Their hair is a lot less than a normal mammal. 3. Whales have a very high body temperature, as they are warm blooded. 4. Whales have a four chambered heart. 5. Whales do not lay eggs for their young to be born.

WATER ACTIVITIES Whales spend 75% of the time doing the following activities: Breaching: Many whales are very acrobatic. Whales sometimes jump very high and take a huge slap back into the water. Breaching is used for playing around or stretching the skin. Sometimes they even have a social meaning. Spyhopping: Many whales do this either because they need food, a place to stay or even just to look around. Lobtailing: Many whales slap their tail into the air and swing it around. This is known as whale lobtailing. This sound is extremely loud. Research shows that the meaning for Lobtailing is unknown but is probably used only for warnings. Logging: Logging is where a whale lies at the top of the water resting with its tail hanging down. Normally the fins are uncovered whilst lying still.

SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR The social ties are very strong with Whales. The strongest ties are between a mother and a calf. A pod is a social group of whales. Many whales travel alone like the Baleen whale. Whales like very sharp toothed whales travel in huge groups. The toothed whales hunt their prey most of the time.

SIGHT Whales’ vision is not too important if they are near the top of the water. The time when the water is dark and murky is when it is very deep and need their vision most. In the water the light doesn’t go very far so it gets dark in the water very easily.

HEARING Sound is carried much easier through the water compared to air which is much more difficult to carry. Toothed Whales and Dolphins have excellent hearing conditions whilst using echolocation to sense objects. These sounds are very short and powerful whilst bouncing off objects near it. The animal hears the sound and makes it easier to track. The objects that they hear are most likely to be prey.

ECHOLOCATION A high pitched sound (normally clicks) is what is made up of echolocation. It is normally sent out by a whale or a dolphin. The whale gets information off the object instantly due to the sound waves of the click. Not just sea animals use echolocation. Animals like Bats use it too.

SMELL Many whales, have a very on going powerful smell. In the brain there is an olfactory bulb which is the main sense of smell but these olfactory bulbs are reduced in Baleen Whales which mean that their smell is different to other whales which have better ‘smelling’ sense. Some whales like a toothed whale have no smelling sense at all.

TASTE & TOUCH Research shows that whales taste buds are very difficult to work out. Many tests have shown that Dolphins have a good sense of taste. Whales’ skin is very sensitive to touch. Also many Whales have whiskers on their nose which are very stubble like. These whiskers are called vibrissae. These whiskers are very much like a cats whiskers.

PICTURE PAGE Killer Whale-Jumping out of the water Awesome Jump!!!Cool looking...but deadly! Beluga whale!!-Cute!

BIBLIOGRAPHY Websites: Keywords (for google) Kids+whales, sea mammals and dolphins