Knowra Whale Whale Whales are large marine mammals in the cetacean group. The name includes all baleen whales and several toothed-whale families, including sperm whales and beaked whales.
Cetacea : The order of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Whales are cetaceans, a group whose members share adaptations to life in water.
Filter feeding : A feeding method that strains small organisms or particles from water. Many baleen whales capture dense swarms of prey by filtering seawater through baleen.
Blue whale : A baleen whale and the largest animal known to have lived on Earth. Its enormous size illustrates the scale possible among whales.
Whaling : The hunting of whales for products such as oil, meat, and baleen. Commercial whaling sharply reduced many whale populations before international protections expanded.
Baleen : A keratinous filtering structure that hangs from the upper jaws of baleen whales. Baleen distinguishes one of the two major whale groups and lets many feed on small prey.
Lunge feeding : A feeding strategy in which a whale accelerates into a prey patch with its mouth open. Rorqual whales use lunges to engulf large volumes of prey-rich water.
Humpback whale : A large baleen whale known for long migrations, complex songs, and cooperative feeding behaviors. Its songs and feeding strategies make it a well-studied example of whale behavior.
International Whaling Commission : An international body established by the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. It coordinates the main international framework governing commercial whaling.
Toothed whale : A cetacean suborder whose members have teeth and include dolphins, porpoises, and several large whales. Sperm whales and beaked whales are toothed whales, unlike baleen whales.
Echolocation : A biological sensing system that uses echoes of self-produced sounds to locate objects. Toothed whales use echolocation to navigate and find prey underwater.
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