Archives for tag: gray whale

Differences Between Sharks And Whales: Which Is A Mammal Or A Fish?

December 6, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information are whales mammals or fish, baleen whales, blue whale, facts about whales, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, largest whale on earth, largest whales, right whale, sei whale, sharks and whales, sperm whale, whale species

Drawing a clear line between Sharks And Whales can get confusing. Learn which is a mammal and which is a fish.

A Whale Shark: Despite being called a Whale Shark and sharing several traits with whales, this creature is a fish not a mammal.

If you are anything like most people, you would have at some point thought sharks and whales, especially the very large species, are similar or even related.

Take the example of the largest sharks and whales, for instance.

The whale shark and the basking shark are filter feeders, so are the grey whales, blue whales, and so on. They are

Can A Whale Swallow A Human Being? Let’s Consider The Facts

November 11, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information baleen whales, blue whale, can a whale swallow a human being, can a whale swallow people, fin whale, gray whale, Jonah and the whale, largest whale on earth, largest whales, sperm whale, whale species

There’s a very popular story about a whale swallowing a person. But based on science, can a whale swallow a human being?

Jonah And The Whale: Can A Whale Swallow A Human Being?

Jonah and the Whale (1621) By Pieter Lastman (Public Domain)

If you’re anything like many ocean goers, you may have wondered what it would feel like for a whale to swallow you. Especially if you’ve ever seen one of these absolutely massive creatures in real life.

You’d probably think being swallowed by a whale would be one of the most horrible things that could ever

Species Profile: The Fin Whale

November 2, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Species Profile blue whale, bryde's whale, fastest whale, fin whale, gray whale, greyhound of the sea, rorqual whale, sei whale, whale conservation status, whale hunting, whale species profile, whaling

Despite being one of the largest whales alive today, the Fin Whale is also one of the fastest cetaceans in the Earth’s waters.

Fin Whale In The Kenai Fjords Near Resurrection Bay, Alaska (Photo: Lori Mazzuca/WikiMedia Commons, cc by-s.a. 2.5)

The Fin Whale or finback whale is a baleen whale and the second largest creature on Earth; second only to the Blue Whale.

This remarkable creature is unique in a number of ways. For one thing they produce the lowest frequency vocalization of any whale. They produce sounds as loud as 188 decibels but the frequency is so low that humans can’t hear it.

In addition, though so large, this whale is sleek and built for speed. American naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews

Is Underwater Sonar Harmful To Whales Or Not?

October 15, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information blue whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, military sonar and whales, right whale, sei whale, sperm whale, underwater sonar and whales, whale species, whale stranding

The debate about underwater sonar and whales has been on for years now. Here are the facts.

Row of military ships: underwater sonar

The debate about whether underwater sonar is harmful to marine life or not, especially cetaceans, has been raging for long now.

Active sonar (sound navigation and ranging), is the transmission equipment used on ships to assist with navigation. But this becomes a problem for some categories of marine animals for example whales and dolphins. That’s because these creatures use echolocation, or bio-sonar systems, to locate predators and prey.

It appears that active sonar transmitters can confuse these animals and even interferes with some of their basic

Species Profile: The Gray Whale

October 4, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Species Profile blue whale, commercial whaling, critically endangered whales, facts about whale hunting, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, right whale, whale hunting, whale species profile, whales, whaling, why do we hunt whales

The Gray Whale resisted capture so much that whalers named it “Devilfish.”

A Gray Whale In Captivity (Photo: Marine Mammal Commission/Wikimedia. Public Domain)

The Gray Whale is a medium-sized baleen whale and the only surviving member of its genus and family. This species is a migratory animal that travels annually between its feeding and breeding grounds.

These whales have a hump and a ridge of sharp bumps running down their backs rather than a dorsal fin. They also prefer to stay close to shore – feeding in shallow waters.

The common name, Gray Whale, comes from the contrasting gray patches and white mottling on its dark colored skin. The white patches are the result of barnacles and lice that have attached themselves to the whales’ skins. In

10 Best Spots For Whale Watching Worldwide By Species

July 10, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Uncategorized beluga whale, blue whale, bryde's whale, gray whale, humpback whale, minke whale, narwhal, orca whale, sei whale, southern right whale, sperm whale, top whale watching spots

Mother and cal beluga whales: Whale watching spots worldwide

If you intend going whale watching anytime soon, check out our guide on the top spots worldwide on a species-by-species basis first.

General Conservation Status Of Different Whale Species

July 2, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information antarctic minke whale, blue whale, bowhead whale, bryde's whale, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, sei whale, whale, whale conservation status

One sea creature that has suffered extreme exploitation is the whale. Here’s the current status of some well-known whale species.

Bryde’s Whale Off Phi Phi Islands, Thailand (Author: Morningdew cc by-sa 3.0)

Whales are magnificent, extremely large, and generally gentle sea mammals. Different species of whales have lived in the Earths’ waters for millions of years now but they are now threatened due to excessive whaling and uneven climatic changes.

Specifically, unregulated and relentless hunting in past centuries led to a sharp decrease in the population of most species of whales.

In fact, in some of the more severe cases, the current population is just a mere fraction of the pre-whaling population.

Initially, commercial whalers were monitored by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

However by 1986, due to the extreme depletion in the number of these creatures the IWC temporally banned whaling entirely.