Whales
How amazing in 2010 that these creatures are survived , not some fossil in a museum
but living breathing giants in our oceans.Brilliant!

Whales are warm blooded mammals which  took to our seas over 45  million years ago.   Being filter feeders, they strain sea water catching small organisms like plankton through a comb-like filter in the mouth called a baleen.
Whales vary in size  from the blue whale, the largest mammal ever to exist at 35m 150 tonnes, to small pygmy sperm whale which is 3.5m.

The Blow hole
Whales blow through their blow hole situated on top of the head.  When submerged the whale’s blow hole fills with water and is cleared at the surface by blowing a jet of water into the air followed by a intake of breath.  Baleen Whales have two blow holes.

Hearing 
Whales hear through their mouth, sounds pass from there to into the middle ear.

Sounds
Whales are capable of making various sounds to communicate with other whales and sometimes even man. These sounds  are  very complex and  suggest a language of sorts, which is used to flirt during breeding season, to find out where other whales are to warn them off and I suppose general banter, whale gossip and much more.  Marine biologists are constantly studying and coming up with new discoveries regarding their communication.

Latest findings published in nature magazine have found whales vocalise with regional accents, Antarctic blue whales have different accents to blue whales off the coast of  Chile.

Brains
Whales have much bigger brains than humans with more neurons although they might think more differently to us.  This may be the reason they have not evolved in the same way as us, riding jet- skis or flying to the moon, as they have no limbs, it is hard to throw a spear or invent wheels with fins!!

Socialization
Whales are very social animals capable of communicating over many hundreds of miles equivalent to a human mobile phone network. They teach, learn ,scheme and share emotions and grieve the loss of loved ones.

Sleep
Whales don’t fall asleep because of the dangers of drowning.  Instead one side of their brain rests while the other stays awake .

Evolution