1. Marine Mammals Cetacea Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Right whale
Fig
Marine Mammals
Cetacea
Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Includes largest animal ever on earth
Blue whale – To 33.5 m long, 100+ tons
Baleen plates attached to upper jaws
Made of keratin (same protein as hair, fingernails)
Squeeze water through baleen and lick off retained food (usually organisms)
Primarily feed on zooplankton
Three families:
Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales)
Balaenopteridae (rorquals)
Eschrichtidae (gray whale)

2. Fig
Blue

3. Marine Mammals Cetacea Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Right whale
Fig
Marine Mammals
Cetacea
Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Includes largest animal ever on earth
Blue whale – To 33.5 m long, 100+ tons
Baleen plates attached to upper jaws
Made of keratin (same protein as hair, fingernails)
Squeeze water through baleen and lick off retained food (usually organisms)
Primarily feed on zooplankton
Three families:
Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales)
Balaenopteridae (rorquals)
Eschrichtidae (gray whale)

4. Marine Mammals Cetacea Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Balaenidae – 5 species
Bowhead, N Atlantic, N Pacific, Southern, Pygmy Right
No: dorsal fin, throat grooves
Feed continuously while swimming
Long, fine baleen
Balaenopteridae – 9 species
Bryde’s, Blue, Eden’s, Fin, Humpback, Antarctic Minke, Common Minke, Omura’s, Sei
Feed by gulping schools of fish or krill
Ventral grooves expand during “gulp”
Large blue whales may enclose up to 17,500 gallons (70 tons) of water in one gulp
Blue whales eat 3,000-5,000 kg of food each day!
Short baleen, small dorsal fin, ventral grooves
Eschrichtidae – 1 species
Gray
Feed by scooping sediments & organisms from sea floor
Short coarse baleen, no dorsal fin, 2-5 ventral grooves
Humpback
Right
Blue
Gray

5. North Atlantic Right Whale

6. Fig
Southern Right

7. Marine Mammals Cetacea Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Balaenidae – 5 species
Bowhead, N Atlantic, N Pacific, Southern, Pygmy Right
No dorsal fin, throat grooves
Feed continuously while swimming
Long, fine baleen, no dorsal fin, no ventral grooves
Balaenopteridae – 9 species
Bryde’s, Blue, Eden’s, Fin, Humpback, Antarctic Minke, Common Minke, Omura’s, Sei
Feed by gulping schools of fish or krill
Ventral grooves expand during “gulp”
Large blue whales may enclose up to 17,500 gallons (70 tons) of water in one gulp
Blue whales eat 3,000-5,000 kg of food each day!
Short baleen, small dorsal fin, ventral grooves
Eschrichtidae – 1 species
Gray
Feed by scooping sediments & organisms from sea floor
Short coarse baleen, no dorsal fin, 2-5 ventral grooves
Humpback
Right
Blue
Gray

8. Fig
Humpback

9. Fig

11. Marine Mammals Cetacea Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) – 15 species
Balaenidae – 5 species
Bowhead, N Atlantic, N Pacific, Southern, Pygmy Right
No dorsal fin, throat grooves
Feed continuously while swimming
Long, fine baleen, no dorsal fin, no ventral grooves
Balaenopteridae – 9 species
Bryde’s, Blue, Eden’s, Fin, Humpback, Antarctic Minke, Common Minke, Omura’s, Sei
Feed by gulping schools of fish or krill
Ventral grooves expand during “gulp”
Large blue whales may enclose up to 17,500 gallons (70 tons) of water in one gulp
Blue whales eat 3,000-5,000 kg of food each day!
Short baleen, small dorsal fin, ventral grooves
Eschrichtidae – 1 species
Gray
Feed by scooping sediments & organisms from sea floor
Short coarse baleen, no dorsal fin, 2-5 ventral grooves
Humpback
Right
Blue
Gray

12. Fig

14. Marine Mammals Cetacea Odontoceti (Toothed Whales) – 74 species
Sperm whales – 3 species
Sperm, Dwarf, Pygmy
Bulbous head contains spermaceti (waxy substance) that may function in buoyancy and sound generation
Sperm whales can dive to 3000 m and stay under water for up to two hours!
Feed on fishes and squids, esp. giant squids
Produce ambergris, undigested material in stomach
Toothed whales – 28 species
Beaked, Beluga, False Killer, Narwhal, Orca, Pilot
Most common in cold water
Dolphins & Porpoises – 43 species
Distinctive beak
Travel in pods

15. Fig
Ambergris

16. Marine Mammals Cetacea Odontoceti (Toothed Whales) – 74 species
Sperm whales – 3 species
Sperm, Dwarf, Pygmy
Bulbous head contains spermaceti (waxy substance) that may function in buoyancy and sound generation
Sperm whales can dive to 3000 m and stay under water for up to two hours!
Feed on fishes and squids, esp. giant squids
Produce ambergris, undigested material in stomach
Toothed whales – 28 species
Beaked, Beluga, False Killer, Narwhal, Orca, Pilot
Most common in cold water
Dolphins & Porpoises – 43 species
Distinctive beak
Travel in pods

17. Beluga
Beaked
Pilot
Narwhal
False Killer

18. Marine Mammals Cetacea Odontoceti (Toothed Whales) – 74 species
Sperm whales – 3 species
Sperm, Dwarf, Pygmy
Bulbous head contains spermaceti (waxy substance) that may function in buoyancy and sound generation
Sperm whales can dive to 3000 m and stay under water for up to two hours!
Feed on fishes and squids, esp. giant squids
Produce ambergris, undigested material in stomach
Toothed whales – 28 species
Beaked, Beluga, False Killer, Narwhal, Orca, Pilot
Most common in cold water
Dolphins & Porpoises – 43 species
Distinctive beak
Travel in pods

19. Dall’s Porpoise
Bottlenose Dolphin
Pacific White-Sided Dolphin
Harbor Porpoise
Spectacled
Porpoise
Dusky Dolphin

20. Marine Mammals Cetacea Echolocation
Common in dolphins, porpoises, toothed whales
May occur in some baleen whales and pinnipeds
Sounds generally consist of sharp clicks
Low-frequency clicks can travel long distances
Functions
Detect objects (orientation clicks)
Characterize objects (discrimination clicks)
Sonic hunting
Mechanism
Air forced through air sacs and focused through melon
Sperm whales may use spermaceti organ
Sound received through lower jaw

21. Fig
Dolphins
Dolphins
Whales
Whales