Cetaceans

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Cetaceans

• Giants of the Sea!

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Cetaceans
Whales
Dolphins

• Mammals
• Aquatic
• Some of the largest animals in the world

Porpoise
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(No Transcript)
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Adapted to Life in the Ocean
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Flippers, Fins Flukes
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Streamlined
Common Dolphins
Minke Whale
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Blubber
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Blowholes
Courtesy NOAA, Roletto (Gray)
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Baleen Whales- Mysticeti
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Baleen Whales
Humpback
Minke
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Baleen
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Filter Feeders
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Humpback

• Most common large whale in our area
• Black on dorsal side with long black and white
  flippers
• Arch back before diving shows flukes prior to
  deep dive
• Length up to 60 feet
• STATUS Endangered, 300-700 using US Atlantic
  waters. 8,000-10,000 in N. Atlantic

Photo NOAA
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Humpback Whale
Photo By Graeme Cresswell
Photo By Graeme Cresswell
Photo By Richard Broughton
Photo By Hugh Harrop
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Minke Fin Whales
Only whale w/ a white right jaw and baleen , and
a dark left jaw and baleen
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Right Whale

• Most endangered of the large whales
• Length 20-50 feet
• Black on dorsal side with yellowish bumps on
  their head (callosities)
• In NJ spring and fall
• STATUS Endangered, currently about 300 known in
  w. N. Atlantic waters. Although they have been
  protected from killing since the 1930s, they
  have not bounced back.

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Toothed Whales- Odontoceti
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Toothed Whales
Orca
Sperm Whale Tooth
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Echolocation
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Sperm Whale

• Heads are boxy
• Heads are up to 1/3rd of body length
• Blowhole on front left side of head
• Skin is dark and wrinkled
• STATUS Endangered but fairly common offshore.

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Pilot Whales

• Black with large dorsal fins
• Length 10-20 feet
• Usually travel in pods (schools)
• Normally in NJ in the spring
• Longinned and Shortfinned

Photo nhm.org
Photo Corbis
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Beaked Whales

• Four species in NJ
• (Blainvilles, Antillean, Trues and Goose)
• Most beaked whales have 2 teeth (females not
  visible)
• Long obvious beaks, small flippers, small dorsal
  fins set far back, and may have gill-like slits
  on their throats.

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Smaller Cetaceans

• Dolphins Porpoise

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Harbor Porpoise
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Dolphins
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Bottlenose Dolphin

• Usually seen in the summer
• 3-10 feet long
• Light gray on ventral side and darker gray on the
  rest of the body
• Often give birth in our waters

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Rissos Dolphin
Only NJ dolphin without a beak
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Photo by Doug Lefler