 People
have been fascinated by Whales for thousands of years,
several species of Whales were harvested close to extinction
until scientists and researchers got governments to
protect them. The Humpback Whales sing complex songs
while suspended in the depths, they enjoy breeching
and rocketing their entire 40 foot long body out of
the water and crashing back down filling the sea with
foam and thunder. Thousands of people go on whale watching
cruises every year, they are very curious and many times
come right up to the boat. Videographers have captured
some of the humpback’s most remarkable habits. Rare
underwater footage documents both: the gentle bond between
mother and calf, the fierce rivalry and sparring among
males. It is hard to believe that whalers once killed
these vulnerable animals by the thousands. There are
3 major Humpback Whale populations—North Pacific, North
Atlantic and Southern Oceans. Their fluke patterns are
like fingerprints according to researchers, No two whales
are alike.
Orca…
Is also called the Killer Whale, Their only enemy is
humans; they belong to the family of Dolphins and are
the largest of the Dolphins. They grow to be 27-33 feet
long, weighing 8,000-12,000 lbs. The Male Orca is larger
than the female; his dorsal fin is up to 6 ft. tall
and more upright than the female Orca that has a 4’
dorsal fin. The Orcas are very efficient hunters
that have a very diverse diet that include sharks, whales,
seals, turtles, penguins, gulls, octopi, large whales
and young blue whales. An average sized Orca will eat
more than 550 pounds of food a day. The Orcas live in
small pods of up to 40 whales; The members of a pod
hunt together in a very sophisticated manner, attacking
much larger prey and then sharing the kill. They are
very protective of their young, sick and injured. The
Orcas are very fast swimmers, they can swim in spurts
as fast as 30 mph and live in waters ranging from tropical
to artic, they are found in all the world’s oceans and
most of the seas. They sometimes enter estuaries but
never stray far from the sea. The Orcas don’t make long
seasonal migrations but they will travel hundreds of
miles in order to find seasonal prey. Male Orcas live
approximately 50-60 year, the females have a life expectancy
of 90 years.
Pilot
Whale-Gray Whale & Whale Shark information is coming |
