Category
page 1Whales
whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, cladistic perspective. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest non-cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses, from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago. The two parvorders
cetacean stranding
phenomenon in which a whale becomes stuck on a beach, often causing the whale's death
exploding whale
phenomenon of a beached whale exploding due to explosives or decomposition
whale fall
temporary ecosystem resulting from the fall of a whale carcass to the ocean floor
Placentonema gigantissima
species of Secernentea, a parasite of the placenta of sperm whales
Cetacean surfacing behaviour
behaviour of whales and dolphins when they come to the surface to breathe
bubble net feeding
feeding method used by humpback whales
whale feces
excrement of whales and its role in the ecology of the oceans