Whales have long been tied to the ocean’s mysteries, and even though they’re some of the most studied animals on Earth, we still don’t know much about them. Whales use their echo-location abilities to find food and avoid predators, but why do they make so many different vocalizations? What causes the spy-hopping behavior that looks like they’re looking at the ship above them when they don’t have eyes? And how do they navigate in the dark depths of the ocean?
What exactly is the mystery behind whales?
Whales have always been associated with mystery. Throughout time, legends speak of a great aral sea, an open expanse of water in the ocean near Asia, that was only known to be seen when a whale would break its surface. The silence and expanse were so intimidating that sailors gave up their journey into the sea without much thought. There is also this legend from Germany where sailors saw an opening in the water in which a whale emerged from deep below the surface. It surfaced just once before retreating into depth.
Where do whales live?
WOW. Where do whales live? A blue whale is a baleen whale, which means that it uses a kind of built-in sieve to filter feed plankton and small fish. Now, that sounds like some very delicious food. You know what? The Aral Sea in Asia is one of the worst areas for wildlife conservation, meaning that because they have plenty to eat there and less competition from other whales, blue whales must spend time there! And while they are having a whale of a time eating dinner, they might accidentally swim through poisonous saltwater pools! Awful—or, as this blogger likes to say–sweet and sour!
How many types of whales are there?
It’s often said that everyone knows is a whale of a time. However, whaling has always been an industry in flux; where one was hunted to near extinction, another species (or another member of the same species) could be harvested to stay afloat. Often, people confuse a whale as any member of this massive mammal family- while they may technically all be whales, they do not refer to them by that term because many types differ in size and hunting style. The most famous whales these days are humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales-which get their name from their common coloring. These three types account for about 85% of all whale hunting.
Are any whale species endangered?
If you don’t already know, we will talk about whales today. You might have heard the phrase a whale of a time and wondered what it meant. Turns out, it refers to someone very lucky. The phrase originated in English-speaking countries but eventually found its way across oceans. Other countries translate this phrase as living like a king. But if you want to understand why people associate whales with luck, read on.
Whales have a long history of being part of our society’s mythology and symbolism. Ancient Greeks even believed that seeing a whale could foretell future events; they would write off any loss they had while at sea if they saw a whale because they considered them omens from the gods.
In ancient times, whaling was a difficult undertaking. To hunt whales in the olden days, fishermen needed to rely on some serious scientific know-how, meaning boatloads of fish were needed for bait. The problem is that whales never approached shore or boats during hunting season. Catching a whale would take anywhere from 10 hours to three days, depending largely on luck.
Fortunately, fishing along the Aral Sea provided abundant fish and other sea creatures as bait. This combination proved more effective than scientists predicted because it helped locate every blue whale within 12 miles of shore and allowed fishermen to return home sooner than usual.
What has changed since then?
Early seafarers discovered that they could hear whales vocalizing only when they were near land. This was because sound travels well in water but not in the air, and since they were often sailing away from land, they would have had to sail very close to shore to hear any whale song. But why did no one know that whales also vocalize underwater?
The response to this question is not as simple as it may initially appear. Sound moves much faster in water than air, largely due to the different densities of water air-remember Archimedes Principle from science class. In addition, sound disperses quickly underwater, and these two factors combined make a kind of silence that hovers over deep seas. A silent sea.
What can we do to help protect whales today?
Today, whales are a silent sea. This quote is from Joan Druett’s book, The Great Whale Road: Tale of Love and Adventure Along the North Atlantic. In this, she points out that we hear the sounds made by animals in our environment all the time—the water babbling, chirping birds, and running streams, to name a few—but when it comes to whale songs, one hears only silence.
