The Official Ultima Super Battle Cruise Fortress Topic Deluxe!

[Junkhead]

Whales!

[Nightmare]

Whale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises. These smaller species belong to the suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales), which also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other suborder of cetaceans, Mysticeti (baleen whales), includes the blue whale, which is the largest animal known to have ever existed, the humpback whale, and many other animals that feed by straining seawater through long strips of baleen that they have in the place of teeth, and from which they get their name.

For centuries, whales have been hunted for meat and as a source of raw materials. By the middle of the 20th century, however, industrial whaling had left many species seriously endangered, and whaling was ended in all but a few countries. Several organizations have been founded to try to eliminate hunting of whales and other threats to whales' survival.

All cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, are descendants of land-living mammals of the Artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulate animals). Both cetaceans and artiodactyl are now classified under the super-order Cetartiodactyla which includes both whales and hippopotamuses. In fact, whales are the closest living relatives of hippos; they evolved from a common ancestor, the Indohyus, an approximately 48-million-year-old even-toed ungulate from the Kashmir region of India, around 54 million years ago. Whales entered the water roughly 50 million years ago. Cetaceans are divided into two suborders:

* The baleen whales are characterized by baleen, a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin, which they use to filter plankton from the water. They are the largest whale suborder.

* The toothed whales use sharp teeth and prey on fish, squid, or both. An outstanding ability of this group is to sense their surrounding environment through echolocation.

Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk from mammary glands, and have hair, although very little.

The whale body is fusiform. The forelimbs, also called flippers, are paddle-shaped. The end of the tail holds the fluke, or tail fins, which provide propulsion by vertical movement, unlike the horizontal movement of the tails of fish. Although whales generally do not possess hind limbs, some whales (such as sperm whales and baleen whales) have rudimentary hind limbs; even with feet and digits, hidden deep within their bodies. Most species of whale bear a fin on their backs known as a dorsal fin.

Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat called blubber. It serves as an energy reservoir and also as insulation. Whales have a four-chambered heart. Whales have spinal columns, although the neck vertebrae are typically fused, which provides stability during swimming at the expense of flexibility. They have a vestigial pelvis bone.

Whales breathe through their blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged while breathing. Baleen whales have two; toothed whales have one. Breathing involves expelling excess water from the blowhole, forming a vertical spout. Spout shapes differ among species, and learning to recognize these shapes helps people identify them.

The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived, and the largest living animal, at up to 35 m (105 ft) long and 150 tons.

Whales generally live for 40–90 years, depending on the species, and on rare occasions live over a century. Recently a fragment of a lance which had been used by commercial whalers in the 19th century was found in a bowhead whale off Alaska, showing the whale to be between 115 and 130 years old. Furthermore, a technique for dating age from aspartic acid racemization in the whale eye, combined with a harpoon fragment, indicated an age of 211 years for one male, making bowhead whales the longest lived extant mammal species. Whale flukes often can be used as identifying markings, as is the case for humpback whales. This is the method by which the famous Humphrey the whale was identified in three separate sightings.

Toothed whales such as the sperm whale possess teeth with cementum cells overlying dentine cells. Unlike human teeth which are composed mostly of enamel on the portion of the tooth outside of the gum, whale teeth have cementum outside the gum. Only in larger whales does enamel show where the cementum has been worn away on the tip of the tooth.

Whales' ears have specific adaptations to their underwater environment. In humans, the middle ear works as an impedance matcher between the outside air’s low impedance and the cochlear fluid’s high impedance. In aquatic mammals such as whales, however, there is no great difference between the outer and inner environments. Instead of sound passing through outer ear to middle ear, whales receive sound through the throat, from which it passes through a low-impedance fat-filled cavity to the inner ear.

Whales are widely classed as predators, but their food ranges from microscopic plankton to very large fish and, in the case of orcas, sometimes other sea mammals, even other whales. Whales such as humpbacks and blues eat only in arctic waters, eating mostly krill, which they take into their mouths along with enormous amounts of seawater, expelling the water through their baleen plates, while retaining the krill.

Whales do not drink seawater; instead, they indirectly extract water from their food by metabolizing fat.

Males are called bulls; females, cows. The young are called calves.

Many whales also exhibit other surfacing behaviours such as breaching and tail slapping.

Because of their environment (and unlike many animals), whales are conscious breathers: they decide when to breathe. All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for too long because they might drown. It is thought that only one hemisphere of the whale's brain sleeps at a time, so that whales are never completely asleep, but still get necessary rest. Whales often sleep with only one eye closed.

Some whales communicate with each other using lyrical sounds, called whale songs. These sounds can be extremely loud, depending on the species. Sperm whales have only been heard making clicks, because toothed whales (Odontoceti) use echolocation and can be heard for many miles. They can generate about 20,000 acoustic watts of sound at 163 decibels.

A female whale gives birth to a single calf. Nursing time is more than a year in many species, which is associated with a strong bond between mother and young. Reproductive maturity occurs typically at seven to ten years. This mode of reproduction spawns few offspring, but provides each with high survival probability.

The genitals of the male whale retract into body cavities during swimming, reducing drag and preventing injury. Most whales do not maintain fixed partnerships during mating; in many species the females have several mates each season. Newborns are delivered tail-first, an arrangement that minimizes the risk of drowning. Whale cows nurse by actively squirting milk so fatty that it has the consistency of toothpaste into the mouths of their young.

Whales are known to teach and learn, as well as cooperate, scheme, and even seem to grieve.

[Junkhead]

...

Wow...I can't believe I actually read it. XD

[Amelia]

What the-?

I like whales! I like watching "whales wars" on Discovery Channel! YAY FOR WHALES!

[Junkhead]

"Whale Wars"...? That sounds violent.

[Amelia]

"Whale Wars"...? That sounds violent.

Yup. But it's a show that protect the whales from being hunted down and killed.

A group of people made it. They try to save the whales. It's a very good show.

[Nightmare]

Whales are the greatest.

[Junkhead]

It sounds like a good show. :)

[Amelia]

It sounds like a VERY good show. :)

Fix'd. :)

[Parrhesia]

I WILL TEAR WHALERS APART WITH MY BARE HAAAANDS.

I love whales :)

[Amelia]

*headpillow*

[Junkhead]

And that will be your arms if you ever dare to mention that of such beautiful creatures.

[Nightmare]

Don't even joke about hurting whales. Or Kenshiro will hurt you.

[Junkhead]

I'm glad. I was intending to call Sanaki to take you to the hospital.

I guess she is the only doctor than can cure my heart

What Night said.

[Amelia]

I guess she is the only doctor than can cure my heart

What Night said.

Crazy about her as always I see

I know.

[Parrhesia]

Guys. Whalers. The guys who shoot whales.

Jesus, shoulda seen this from a mile away...

[Nightmare]

Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

I didn't see that.

[Junkhead]

Lol, what?

[Parrhesia]

Everyone thought I wanted to tear apart whales, instead of the people who harpoon them and sell 'em to seafood companies. The former are awesome. The latter should be shot in the face with a fucking grenade launcher.

[Junkhead]

Yeah, sorry...I misunderstood you when I made that post, I realized it a few seconds later =P

I agree with you.

[Amelia]

Oh, I didn't see that. Sorry.

*thumbs up*

Fix'd

[Junkhead]

Okay. White Len topic!

[Amelia]

Cute~

[Junkhead]

Bump the White Len topic, Imouto-chan!

[Inactive Account]

AND THEN THE INTERNET EXPLODED