Herring whale: description, habitat, reproduction, nutrition

Cetaceans are one of the largest mammals, and some species of whales are the largest animals that ever lived on planet Earth.

The smallest whales weighing 30 kg are 1 meter long. The length of adult whales is 30 meters, and the weight is about 150 tons.

Description of the species

The herring whale, or finwal, was first described by Frederick Martens in the distant year 1675. At the dawn of the XIX century, Count Lásepéd gave him the name Balaenoptera physalus.

Herring whales are referred to the family of the striped whales (Balaenopteridae). This mammal is the second largest on our planet.

There are hybrids between the herring and blue whales in the North Atlantic. In Russia, a herring whale can be seen in the seas of the European North and the Far East.

What is a herring whale?

The average length of an adult is 26 m, and its weight is 70 tons. The upper half of the torso of the fin whale is colored dark gray, the bottom of the body is white. The lower jaw is on the right brownish-gray, and on the left is white. The whale has a light blue mustache.

In the lower half of the body there are folds that begin from the jaw. The length of the folds is approximately half the body of the whale. There are about a hundred folds. During the period of feeding, the folds allow the pharynx to expand substantially.

Herring whales are long-lived and live up to 95 years. For a hundred days, the finnales can do without sleep.

The dorsal fin is 60 cm high. The whale has a wide tail, which is individual, like fingerprints in humans. It is impossible to meet two absolutely identical tails.

A sowing whale can swim at a speed of 45 km / h. This species of cetaceans is the fastest, and also very mobile for a mammal of such size, which is able to quickly change the trajectory of motion.

Finval dives to a depth of 250 m, and under water, usually about 15 minutes.

The oral cavity of whales is not connected with the lungs. For one second finval inhales 2 thousand liters of air.

At the time of the ascent, the whales breathe in and the hot air comes in contact with the cold, so every time the sowing whale comes out, it releases a small fountain of condensed steam. The water fountain can reach 6 m in height.

Habitat

Keith likes open oceanic expanses, for this reason he can not be found in the coastal waters. The habitat of the herring whale extends to the polar and tropical regions. A significant part of the finials live in cool waters.

Herring whales communicate through low frequency sounds. In the mating season, the males emit sounds, so they call the females. Finals can make low-frequency sounds that can not catch the human ear. Sound helps whales navigate in space, they constantly listen, because they have underdeveloped eyesight and there is no sense of smell.

They live in small flocks of 6-10 individuals, and in the period of migration they are grouped into groups of 200 individuals. With the development of navigation, the level of hum in the ocean increased, which in turn affected the whale population, as it became more difficult for males to attract females.

Food

The northern fin whale, or herring whale, feeds on crustaceans and small fishes (sardines, capelin, herring, pollock). Seeing a large school of fish, the whale circling around him at a huge speed, thereby driving it into a heap.

For one day a mammal eats two tons of living creatures. The whale swallows 10 kg of sea food at a time. To get rid of the water that the whale has swallowed, it closes the mouth and tongue begins to push it out. Water passes through the whale's mustache, and the marine life settles on it, it only remains to slip and swallow the prey. For feeding, the herring whale consumes about three hours a day.

Reproduction

Cetaceans mate in warm waters mainly in the winter. Once in 3 years the female reproduces the offspring. 11 months of pregnancy. The weight of the newly born herring whale is 2 tons, and its length is 7 m.

Milk of the mother calves feeds for 7 months. Kiten consumes about 370 liters of milk every day. By the time when the whale starts feeding itself, its size is 12 m, and the weight is about 20 tons.

Destruction of herring whales

Due to the fact that the finnales predominantly existed far from the coast, people did not hunt them for a long time. Beginning only at the end of the XIX century, the fishers had technical means, with the help of which they began to hunt whales.

Unobstructed whaling continued until 1960, until this species of whales was almost completely destroyed. The International Whaling Commission banned the hunting of herring whales in 1982 until the restoration of their population. Finvals are listed in the Red Book.