The Marine BiomeMarine Vertebrates:Cetaceans

Cetaceans

•Whales•Dolphins•Porpoises

Cetaceans

•Largest group of marine mammals

•Have an elongated skull•Nostrils on top of skull (blowhole) •Very few hairs•A horizontal tail fin (fluke) used for

propulsion

Cetaceans

•Echolocation:▫Communicate with each other ▫Determine distances▫Warn others about danger

Cetaceans

•They release tiny bubbles through their blowholes and make clicking sounds.

•The Melon (fatty structure on the top of the head) focuses and directs the sound waves.

Cetaceans

•Whale Song

•Sperm Whales Echolocation

Cetaceans

•Breaching: ▫When whales leap in the air and loudly

crash on the surface of the water.

•Purpose: ▫Warning signal▫A way to get rid of external parasites ▫A fun activity

Cetaceans

•Breaching Orcas

•Blue Whales and Breaching Humpbacks

•Breaching Humpback

Cetaceans

•Divided into two groups:

▫Toothed whales

▫Toothless whales (Baleen Whales)

Toothed Whales

•About 80 different species.

•The largest is the Sperm Whale.▫Made famous by the

novel “Moby Dick”.

Toothed Whales

•Teeth are adapted for a diet of squid and fish.

•They are used to catch and hold prey, but not to chew it.

Examples

•Bottlenose Dolphin

Examples

•Beaked Whale

Examples

•Sperm Whale

Examples

•Beluga

•The Vancouver Aquarium

Examples

•Narwhal

Examples

•Orca Whale (Killer Whale)

Baleen Whales

•The largest animals to ever have lived on the planet

•10 species

•The Blue Whale is the largest

Baleen Whales

•Have a row of flexible, fibrous plates that hang from the upper jaw

•Used to filter out plankton and tiny organisms from the water

Examples

•Gray Whale

Examples

•Humpback Whale

Examples

•Minke Whale

Examples

•Blue Whale