On a yearly basis whales are known to migrate over long distances with reference to the Baleen which migrates in groups and a group is known as a pod. They migrate from their cold feeding grounds to warmer water where they breed.

These mammals have very strong social bonds especially between a mother and her calf. The Baleen whale will at times travel alone or within a small pod where as the toothed whale will travel in large pods this is because the toothed mammals hunt as a group and migrate as a group. The young calves are taken care of by the group as well.

The female has a gestation period of 9 months and depending on what species it is some take as long as’ months and they only give live birth to one calf. Although they migrate seasonally the cow does now give birth every year. This gigantic sea mammal produce milk for their calves to suckle and they will only breed in warm waters.

The minute a calf is born it is able to swim and the mother takes care of the calf for around a year continuously feeding them with milk and the mother is also very protective over her calf. These mammals have a very unique communication system which is called whale song and can be heard for kilometres under the water.

For instance the humpback whale song can last for half an hour and the Baleen sings low frequency songs while the toothed mammals click and whistle which are also used for echolocation. These sounds are used for attracting mates as well as being territorial and the tooth species locate prey by clicking.

Whales have defence mechanisms whereby the toothed species use their teeth to kill their prey as well as protect themselves. Most of the toothed species hunt cooperatively by catching and killing large prey such as the orcas are capable of killing a young blue whale and humpbacks use a method known as bubble net feeding which allows them to catch large amounts of small fish during a feeding.

Peter van Diem has been studying whales for nearly fifty years and is fascinated by the whales mating rituals.

categories: Wildlife,Science,Biology,Flora and Fauna,Animalia,Zoology,Chordata,Mammalia,Cetacea,Endangered Animals,Animal Behavior

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