Whales: Swimming Mammals

16 Whales: Swimming Mammals My family is going on an exciting summer vacation. We're going to see the whales in the St. Lawrence River in Canada. Whales are mysterious animals. We don't really know a lot about them, but many humans feel a special connection with them. It's probably because whales, like humans, are mammals. Whales are warm-blooded. Their young are born alive, and they feed their babies milk. They live in large social groups, and some families stay together for a lifetime. Scientists believe that whales once lived on land, like other mammals. However, millions of years ago, their bodies began to change. Their back legs disappeared, and their front legs changed into flippers. Slowly, they became ocean dwellers. But they are not fish. They can stay underwater a long time, but they must come to the surface of the water to breathe.

In many ways, whales organize their lives in the same way humans do. They have special languages for communication. That's right-whales talk to each other! Scientists are trying to understand these languages. Some whales can send sounds hundreds of kilometres through the ocean. There are two types of whales: those with teeth and those without teeth. The whales without teeth are called baleen whales. Some of the whales that have teeth get really big. For example, the blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on earth. It can grow up to 35 metres in length. Whales were once plentiful. But until recently, humans over-hunted some kinds of whales. Hundreds of years ago, great whaling ships set sail from Europe and Japan to travel the world hunting whales. Do you know why? Well, most whales live in cold oceans. They need a lot of body fat to stay warm. Long ago, whale fat or “ blubber" made good oil for powering lamps. I'm really excited about this trip to see the beluga whales in Canada. I always like to have a few facts in mind before I go to explore something new. And I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot more when I'm in the boat and up close.