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More About Whales ...
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Whales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, members of the order Cetacea, which also includes dolphins and porpoises. The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all cetaceans, just the largest ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. This latter definition is the one followed within Wikipedia. Whales are those cetaceans which are neither dolphins (i.e. members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) or porpoises. This can lead to some confusion as Orca (Killer Whales) and Pilot Whales have "whale" in their name, but are dolphins from the perspective of classification. Cetologists tend not to worry too much about making a distinction.
Like all members of the order, whales evolved from land mammals which returned to the sea undergoing aquatic adaptation, probably in the Eocene, between 55 and 34 million years ago. The precise ancestry of whales is still obscure, as there is no commonly agreed succession, but they are thought to have evolved from a group of carnivorous artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed animals). In 2001, two important 47-million-year-old partial fossils, named Rodhocetus balochistanensis and Artiocetus clavis, were discovered in Balochistan, Pakistan. These fossils represent intermediate forms between land-living ungulates and whales and are evidence that the whales' closest relatives on land might be hippos, which had been previously suggested by DNA studies. The first fully marine cetaceans, like Basilosaurus, appeared 40 million years ago.
Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded (i.e., endothermic), breast-feed their young, and have some (very little) hair. The whales' adaptions to a fully aquatic life are quite conspiciuous: The body is fusiform, resembling that of a fish. The forelimbs, also called flippers, are paddle-shaped. The end of the tail holds the fluke, which provides propulsion by vertical movements. Whales do not possess hind limbs, small bones inside the body are the only remains of the pelvis. Most species of whales bear a fin on their backs. Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat, the blubber. It serves as an energy reservoir and also as insulation. Whales have a four-chambered heart. The neck vertebrae are fused in most whales, whhich provides stability during swimming at the expense of flexibility. Whales breathe through blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Baleen whales have two, toothed whales one blowhole. When breathing out after a dive, a spout can be seen from the right perspective, the shape of which differs among the species. Whales have a unique respiratory system that lets them stay underwater for long periods of time without taking any oxygen. Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours in a single breath.
Whale females give birth to a single calf. Nursing time is long (more than one year in many species), which is associated with a strong bond between mother and young. In most whales reproductive maturity occurs late, typically at seven to ten years. This strategy of reproduction spawns few offspring, provided with a high rate of survival
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Whales
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AUDIO CLIPS
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Whale
0.140MB AU Hear Sound
Acoustical Society of America
Whale Cry
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Humpback Whale
0.060MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale cry
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Humpback Whale
0.140MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale long cry
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Humpback Whale
0.550MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale song
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Humpback Whale
0.080MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale trumpet
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Humpback Whale
0.220MB MOV Hear Sound
Lawrence Hall of Science, Univ. of California, Ber
Sperm Whale song
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Killer Whale
0.170MB WAV Hear Sound
Naturesongs.com
Breathing sounds of members of a pod of Orcas
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Humpback Whale
0.550MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Humpback Whale
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Whale
0.060MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Whale
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Whale
0.090MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Haunting Cry
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Whale
0.140MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Long Cry
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Whale
0.080MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Trumpet
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Whale
0.100MB AU Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Whistle
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Whale
0.260MB WAV Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Whale
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Humpback Whale
0.490MB WAV Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Humpback Whale
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Sperm Whale
0.390MB WAV Hear Sound
JungleWalk
Sperm Whale
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Whale
0.060MB AU Hear Sound
Acoustical Society of America
Whale Cry
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Whale
0.090MB AU Hear Sound
Acoustical Society of America
Whale Cry
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Whale
0.080MB AU Hear Sound
Acoustical Society of America
Whale Trumpet
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Whale
0.100MB AU Hear Sound
Acoustical Society of America
Whale Whistle
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Humpback Whale
0.090MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale haunting cry
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Humpback Whale
0.160MB MOV Hear Sound
Lawrence Hall of Science, Univ. of California, Ber
Humpback whale song
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Beluga Whale
0.300MB AU Hear Sound
University of Aberdeen Zoology Museum
Beluga whale sound
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Sperm whale
0.040MB WAV Hear Sound
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Audio of Sperm whale
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Sperm whale
0.070MB WAV Hear Sound
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Audio of Sperm whale
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Beluga Whale
0.130MB WAV Hear Sound
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Audio of Beluga Whale
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Long finned pilot whale
0.060MB WAV Hear Sound
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Audio of Long finned pilot whale
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Humpback Whale
0.100MB AU Hear Sound
iBiblio - the public's library and digital archive
Humpback whale whistle
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Toothed Whale
0.240MB AU Hear Sound
University of Aberdeen Zoology Museum
Toothed whale sound
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Killer Whale
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
National Geographic - Creature Feature Archive
Killer Whale
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Whale
0.520MB MP3 Hear Sound
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Whales Spouting
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Humpback Whale
1.210MB MP3 Hear Sound
EarthEar
Here’s Lisa Walker’s favorite humpback whale chorus, recorded in a long, narrow channel that amplified and attenuated their calls in a most wonderful way. See details in the page below to buy the CD
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False Killer Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
David"s Whale and Dolphin Watch
Dolphins and whales have voices, but it's a lot different from most other mammals. The limited visibility under water made sounds and hearing very important for them
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Pilot Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
David"s Whale and Dolphin Watch
When you listen to the sounds you will usually hear two kinds of sounds. One that sounds like whistling (high pitched sounds) and one that sounds like a rattle or clicking. In general the whistles are for communication and the clicks is the SONAR.
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Sperm Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
David"s Whale and Dolphin Watch
.mp3 file (72 kb)
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NE Pacific Blue Whale
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization "Northeastern Pacific blue whale calls are perhaps the best known blue whale call to date. They generally consist of two parts, A and B. The A call is a series of pulses (on the order of 1.5 pulses/s) which often exhibits side-banding and the B call is a long FM moan".
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