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The whales make groans, pops and belches typically at frequencies around 500 Hz. The purpose of the sounds is not known but may be a form of communication between whales within the same group. Northern right whales responded to sounds similar to police sirens—sounds of much higher frequency than their own. On hearing the sounds, they moved ...
Orcas (or killer whales) are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild, but such attacks are less common than those by captive orcas. [ 1 ]
A hunt begins with a chase followed by a violent attack on the exhausted prey. Large whales often show signs of orca attack via tooth rake marks. [84] Pods of female sperm whales sometimes protect themselves by forming a protective circle around their calves with their flukes facing outwards, using them to repel the attackers. [90]
Researchers have warned that human impact on the ocean is putting increasing pressure on dolphins and whales, and their ecosystems. The UK whale and dolphin conservation charity Orca recorded ...
Whales are fully aquatic, open-ocean animals: they can feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 tonnes (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the
They regularly dive for about 5–15 minutes (maximum of 20 minutes) after four to seven blows. Bryde's whales are capable of reaching depths down to 292 metres (958 ft). [18] When submerging, these whales do not display their flukes. Bryde's whales commonly swim at 1.6–6.4 km/h (1–4 mph), but can reach 19–24 km/h (12–15 mph). [8]
The false killer is one of three toothed whales, the other two being the pilot whales, identified as having a sizable lifespan after menopause, which occurs at age 45 to 55. [19] As a toothed whale, a false killer can echolocate using its melon organ in the forehead to create sound, which it uses to navigate and find prey.
A 2012 analysis of the scarification of right whales over the years 1980 to 2009 showed that 82.9% of all North Atlantic right whales experienced at least one fishing gear entanglement, 59.0% have had more than one such experience, and an average of 15.5% of the population are entangled in fishing gear annually.