What does a whale look like?
4 min read
Asked by: Justin Boylan
Blue whales look true blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Their underbellies take on a yellowish hue from the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes.
What do whales look like description?
They have blue-gray colored skin, with a slightly lighter colored underside; they have two pectoral fins, a small dorsal fin on their backs, and a large fluke. The fluke, or “tail fin,” is moved in an up-down motion to push the animal forward. The pectoral fins on either side of the whale are used to steer.
How do you describe a whale for kids?
Whale Facts for Kids
- The whale is a mammal.
- Whales breathe air just like us.
- Whales breathe through blowholes on top of their heads.
- Baleen Whales and Toothed Whales are both types of whales.
- One of the biggest animals on earth is the Blue whale.
- Humpback whales and blue whales sing.
Is whale a animal or fish?
Whales, along with dolphins and porpoises, are warm-blooded mammals and breathe air like humans do. There are some significant differences between whales and fish: Whales are warm blooded. Fish are cold blooded.
What kind of animal is a whale for kids?
mammals
Whales are mammals, so they are warm-blooded, they feed milk to their babies, and breathe air. Since whales are not fish, they do not have gills so they cannot breathe underwater, although they can hold their breath for a really long time.
What are 3 facts about whales?
12 Interesting Facts About Whales
- Blue Whales are the largest animals to have ever lived on planet earth. …
- Blue Whales aren’t a true blue in color. …
- Dolphins are whales, but whales aren’t dolphins. …
- Whales can store oxygen molecules in their bodies. …
- Gray whales can travel over 14,000 miles round trip.
What color is a whale?
Most whales tend to be various shades of light to dark grey, blue and black, which may lighten or darken as the whale ages. Some whale species may also appear to be a brownish color while the beluga whale is born white.
What do whales eat?
They love to eat krill, fish, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and algae. Some, such as the right whale, are called “skimmers”. These whales swim slowly with their huge mouths open to take in large amounts of water and food.
Do whales have teeth?
All baleen whales have baleen instead of teeth which they use to collect shrimp-like krill, plankton and small fish from the sea. These bristly baleen plates filter, sift, sieve or trap the whales’ favourite prey from seawater inside their mouths.
Do whales have hair?
Fun fact: Did you know that all whales have hair on their body at some point in their lives? Whales are born with sensory hairs along their jaw and head. Most whales will shed these sensory hairs, but some will keep them!
Do whales sleep?
Observations of bottlenose dolphins in aquariums and zoos, and of whales and dolphins in the wild, show two basic methods of sleeping: they either rest quietly in the water, vertically or horizontally, or sleep while swimming slowly next to another animal.
Why are whales blue?
It is the color of the water and light from the sun that make them look deeper blue than they really are. Blue whales have light gray or yellow-white undersides, and their yellow ventral coloring is due to the accumulation of diatoms (microscopic unicellular marine algae) in cold water.
Where do whales live?
oceans
Where do whales live? Whales inhabit all oceans of the world, from temperate oceans and the tropical waters around the equator to the polar waters of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. Whales are also found in many seas, such as the North Sea and the Mediterranean.
How do whales sleep?
Sleeping position
Most sleeping whales stay in a horizontal or vertical position close to the surface or at the surface. Resting at the surface is called “logging” because the motionless, floating body of a whale has an uncanny resemblance to a drifting log. Some species sleep at greater depths.
How long do whales sleep for?
30 minutes
They cannot sleep for much longer than 30 minutes without risking lowering their body temperature due to inactivity. A very common assumption is that whales sleep with half of their brain ‘shut off’ and one eye closed.
