Page 90 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Sharks & Ocean Predators
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Meet the family

Meet six incredible members

Whales of the whale super family
Along for the ride
Parasites and
GRAY WHALE Gray whale organisms live on gray
whales’ bodies, giving
Eschrichtius robustus them a distinctive rock-
Class Mammalia A haven for tiny like look.
travelling parasites
Known for their distinctive look, these big ocean beasts are
Territory Coastal North Pacifi c
Diet Amphipods and other covered in parasites and organisms that make them look a lot like
small sea fl oor dwellers an ocean rock. Unusually, the whale uses its snout to dislodge small
Lifespan 50-60 years creatures from the sea floor and sieves them through comb-like

Adult weight 35,000kg /

77,162lbs filter plates in its upper jaw known as baleen.
Conservation status Once used to make corsets and umbrellas, gray whale baleen is

tough but flexible and can grow up to 50 centimetres (19.7 inches)
long. While following their lengthy migration, a gray whale can swim
LEAST CONCERN some 20,000 kilometres (12,427 miles) to Alaskan waters and then
back to the Mexican coast.
Filter feeder
Using baleen plates to seive

zooplankton and small fish, Sei
whales consume up to 900 kilograms
(2,000 pounds) of food every day.

Distinctive spout

SEI WHALE The sei look similar to blue and finback
Balaenoptera borealis whales, except they’re smaller and

Class Mammalia have a curved dorsal fin with a dark

underside. They are o en noticeable by
the inverted V shape of the spout.
Territory Atlantic and Pacifi c
Oceans
Diet Zooplankton and small
fi sh
Lifespan 70 years
Adult weight 28,000kg /
61,729lbs
Conservation status
The largest brain
Sperm whales have the largest
ENDANGERED
brain of all animals on Earth.
Weighing 9kg (20lbs), it’s
about six times heavier than a
Sei whale human’s brain.
A speedy cetacean with Sperm whale
SPERM WHALE Physeter
a healthy appetite for plankton macrocephalus
Class Mammalia The giant of the ocean with a

A filter feeder that uses its baleen plates to sieve
zooplankton and small fish out of the water, sei whales can sizeable brain to match

consume up to 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of food With the biggest brain of any animal on Earth, the
every day, competing with other whales, basking sharks sperm whale is an incredible creature that can eat an

and large fish such as herring. enormous quantity of food a day.
Territory All oceans
Sei prefer temperate waters, although they can be found Diet Carnivore The whale is named after the spermaceti oil that
in seas all over the world, including tropical, Arctic and Lifespan 50 to 70 years it produces in an organ of the same name, within its
Adult weight 41,000kg /
Antarctic oceans. They usually travel alone or in small pods huge box-like head. It’s thought that this fl uid, which
90,390lbs

with less than five members and can cruise at speeds of Conservation status hardens to wax when cold, helps the whale regulate
26 kilometres (16 miles) per hour, up to a maximum of 50 its buoyancy. This comes in useful when the whale
kilometres (31 miles) per hour. They have become a more dives to the depths of the ocean to feed on things
popular target for whalers as the populations of blue and VULNERABLE like giant squid, where they can hold their breath for
finback whales diminish. up to 90 minutes at a time.

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