{"id":48245,"date":"2020-01-12T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/?p=48245"},"modified":"2020-02-14T17:51:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T18:51:37","slug":"all-you-need-to-know-about-cetaceans-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/all-you-need-to-know-about-cetaceans-2\/","title":{"rendered":"All you need to know about cetaceans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a cetacean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cetaceans are whales, dolphins and porpoises.  Cetaceans are mammals which means they breathe air, give birth to live young (underwater unlike seals who give birth on land) and suckle their calves. The closest relatives of the cetaceans are the ‘artiodactyls’, an order of even-toed ungulates (hoofed mammals) that include the hippopotamus, camel and giraffe. There are currently around 86 recognised species which can be divided into two suborders: toothed whales (odontocetes) and baleen whales (mysticetes). <\/p>\n\n\n

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Toothed whales and baleen whales <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A tooth from a sperm whale on the left and a baleen plate on the right. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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Toothed whales (Odontocetes) <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As the name indicates, toothed whales have teeth, which vary in size, form and number between species. Some are actually toothless as the teeth stay buried in the gums or jaws throughout the animal’s lifetime. Toothed whales hunt different types of prey including fish, squids, crustaceans, birds and even other marine mammals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baleen whale (Mysticetes) <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Instead of teeth, baleen whales have fibrous plates (called baleen plates) hanging from their top jaw. These plates are made from keratin (the same protein that our hair and fingernails are made from) and vary in size, number and colouration between species. These plates filter small organisms out of the water, such as krill and other plankton and small schooling fish (for example herring, sardines and mackerel). Baleen whales capture their food using different techniques such as gulp-feeding, skim-feeding, bubble net feeding and bottom-feeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about baleen whales<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Baleen whale<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

All baleen whales have two blowholes, symmetrical skulls and only one sternum bone (breastbone). For most baleen whale species the females is larger than the male. The queen of the oceans is the blue whale. The largest recorded blue whale was a female reaching 33 m in length. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"baleen
Baleen whale opening the mouth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The baleen whale suborder includes 17 species which are listed below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rorquals <\/strong>(6 of 11 species recorded in Azores)
Balaenoptera<\/em>
– musculus <\/em>(Blue whale<\/a>)
– physalus <\/em>(Fin whale<\/a>)
– borealis<\/em> (Sei whale<\/a>)
– acutorostrata <\/em>(Minke whale<\/a>)
– edeni <\/em>(Bryde’s whale<\/a>)
Megaptera<\/em>
– novaeangliae <\/em>(Humpback whale<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grey whale<\/strong> (1 species, not seen in the Azores)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right whales <\/strong>(3 species, not seen in the Azores)
The Northatlantic right whale have been sighted in Azorean waters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pygmy right whale<\/strong> (1 species, not seen in the Azores)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowhead whale<\/strong> (1 species, not seen in the Azores)<\/p>\n\n\n\n