Baleen whale
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Mysticeti is taxonomic suborder which contains the baleen whales. It has 4 families, 9 genus, and 14 species. Baleen whales only have teeth during their embryonic stage.[1] The name baleen whale is derived from from the baleen plates in their mouth which collect small particles of food, mainly of krill, plankton and small fish. The plates are made of keratin which is hard and tough protein fiber.
The size of baleen depends on the species. [2] The humpback and the Blue whale are perhaps the best known of the baleen whales with the latter being the largest and loudest whale. Baleen whales are spread all over the world's oceans and can be found in the Arctic and tropical waters. However, some species are limited in some range.[3] There are 2 main differences between Baleen and Toothed whales. First, the Baleen whale is a filter feeder, whereas the toothed whales hunt larger forms of prey. Also Baleen whales are generally larger than toothed whales, and females are larger than males.[4]
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Anatomy
Mysticeti is a filter feeder and they have some characteristics such as loss of functional teeth, large body size, and short neck. Baleen whales do not have teeth however, they have baleen plates which filter small particles of food. Baleen is made of keratin which is a protein that forms hard and tough non-mineral structures in many animals.[5] Baleen, is also known as a whalebone, which can be 2 to 12 ft long, it depends on the species. Baleen also can use in many ways in human life, such as, it used in buggy whip, parasol ribs and its also used in women's dresses(corsets). And these days, the baleen's function in paper turned to plastic. [6] In addition, baleen is inflexible substance that hang from the upper jaw. For example, the Humpback whale, is included in a Baleen whale, with the vertical grooves that collect the food into the mouth.[7] The Humpback whale has 6 important external feature: blow holes, baleen, flukes, median notch, eye, and pectoral fin. In mysticeti, the Blue whale is, the largest and loudest whale, about 93 feet long and 180 tons heavy and they can make a voice level to 188 decibels over thousands of miles. Also the most musical and the noisiest whale is the Humpback whale, their song's range of sounds is from 20-9,000 Hertz.[8]
Reproduction
Several males and one female of gray whales have mating activity. The female choose the male that has the largest body, and also the female meets more males when the breeding season comes. For example, during the breed activity, the males fight each other to get access to a female. Because, the female mate with the winning male. The female baleen whales come into the period of sexual receptivity once a year.[9] A female Baleen whale give a birth to a calf in warm waters because it helps the calf adapt to the life, but the cold water, it makes the heat loss that is the big problem for a calf. And also, the female could save their energy more in the warm water than the cold water.[10] For example, the Humpback whale's sexual maturity is 6-10 years, the female Humpback whale bears a calf for 2-3 years, and a calf is about 10-15 feet and 1 ton. The female feeds them with their milk, and after a year they feed their calf on krill, small shrimp and a lot of small fish.[11]
Ecology
The Baleen whale can be found in all oceans, from the polar to the tropical areas, but differ widely in occurrence. For example, the Southern Right whales, Northern Right whales and Bowhead whales are really hard to find. However, the Fin whales, Minke whales, Sei whales, Blue whales and the Humpback whales are spread all over the world. [12]
The Baleen Whale show season migratory patters, for example, when summer comes they go to colder areas to feed, and to warmer areas during winter months. However, some of the mysticetes do not travel far, such as the minke whale. The baleen whale usually travels alone or with some small company. For example, in the winter time the Gray whale travel around the Gulf of California. After they give birth, they move to the Bering Sea, which is the longest distance, it is about 10,000km. Also the Humpback, in winter time, they travel around Hawaii, however, in spring time, they cross the Pacific ocean to reach the Bering and Chukchi Sea for summer. [13]
Baleen Whale Sounds
Whales sing a song to communicate with other whales, the term song is explain the pattern of sounds that made by the species of whales, remarkably the Humpback whale, and it is similar to human song.[14] Baleen whale makes sounds that is in low frequency and the sounds can reach to long distances, approximately over 100 kilometers. Baleen whale thinks that the song may attract the mate. [15] The measure unit of sounds, in under water, is decibels and also it is not same that dB levels underwater and in air. The Blue whale makes the sounds of 12-390 Hz at 188 dB, the Gray whale makes the sound in the range of 20-2000 Hz, and the Humpback whale which makes the sound in range of 30-8000 Hz. Each song takes 1-3 minutes and the only males sing during the winter season and in the breeding area. When they leave the area they stop singing and in the next winter, they start to sing with the similar song at the end of the earlier winter. [16]
Gallery
 Minke whale |
 Humpback whale |
 Southern right whale |
 Northern right whale |
 Minke whale |
 Baleen Plate |
References
- Baleen Whale Multiple Author. Animal Corner MJB.
- Mysticeti Michel C. Milinkovitch and Olivier Lampert. tolweb.org.
- Classification of Mysticeti No Name Author. Enchanted Learning.
- Baleen Whale Multiple Author. Marine Mammals.
- Humpback Whale John Calambokidis. American Cetacean Society.
- Reproduction of Baleen Whale No name Author. Seaworld.org
- Picture of baleen whale No Name Author Flickr
- Baleen Multiple Author. Wikipedia.org, the free encyclopedia.
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