1. Conserving
Whales

2. Whales are air-breathing mammals that live in the sea
Whales are air-breathing mammals that live in the sea. The blue whale is the largest mammal that has ever existed. They can grow to 32m long, and weigh 146 tonnes.

3. Baleen Whales Toothed Whales There are two major groups of whales…..
Whales that have teeth and use them to kill and eat other marine animals. These include killer whales.
Instead of teeth, baleen whales have huge strainers made of fringed plates running from the top to bottom of their jaws, called baleen.

4. Baleen whales swim through the water with their mouths open, and strain out plankton from the water

5. There are many different species of whale, and many of them are endangered. This is mostly due to hunting. We know very little about the lives of many kinds of whales, and this makes their conservation more difficult.

6. Ever since people found ways of killing them, whales have provided a whole range of substances that people can use.
Almost every bit of a whale can become something useful….
Their meat is prized as food in some countries, such as Japan and Iceland

7. Oil extracted from their bodies has been used for lamps…

8. …and cosmetics

9. Whalebone- actually not bone at all, but the baleen plates from the jaws of baleen whales- was used for making corsets, horsewhips and umbrellas.

10. Today, we have much better materials for making these things…
Today, we have much better materials for making these things…. And there is another way of making money out of whales. People will pay to see them. Whale-watching expeditions take people out on boats into areas where they can get close to whales. You can do this around the coasts of the U.K.

11. Most whales are much too big to keep in zoos, but killer whales (orcas) are quite small, and they are active whales that entertain zoo visitors….. Do you think it is right to keep whales in captivity?