Thursday, October 10, 2013

Humpback Whale


The humpback whale (it's scientific name in Megaptera novaeangliae) lives in most of the oceans around of the world. They are mammals, like dogs, cats, and humans. Something that mammals have in common is that they are covered with hair, nurse their young with milk produced from their bodies, and have live births (except for a few exceptions like the platypus and echidna). Whales and other creatures like dolphins that belong to the Cetacea order have all those characteristics, even hair! 

Humpback whales can get to be as long as 52 feet. In comparison, most school buses are 45 feet long. And they can weigh as much as 7,900 pounds. So what does an animal this big eat? Other whales? Nope, it eats the total opposite. The humpback whale's diet consists mostly of krill, which are basically tiny shrimp, as well as small fish.

 In winter, when food is hard to find, it will relay on it's blubber, or fat, reserves to survive. Humpbacks swallow water and filter out krill and other food with special teeth called baleen that look like hair combs. Whales are slow swimmers so to help them catch fish, humpbacks will find a school and blow bubbles from their blow holes around it. This creates a bubble net around the fish and keeps the fish from swimming away. Once the fish are trapped, the humpback swallows the school whole.

Want to color your own? Click the image below and print it out!



Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen



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