Whales

Whales. Written by Vic Moores.

鲸鱼。 维克·穆尔斯 著

Introduction. Whales are very large. In fact, they are the largest animals on earth. And they are probably the largest animal that ever lived on earth. They are bigger than any known dinosaur. Even elephants are small when compared to whales. A large blue whale can be over 33 meters, 100 feet long. It can weigh nearly as much as 20 school buses. Its heart is as big as a small car. A large elephant, in comparison, is 4 .3 meters, 13 feet tall, and weighs less than one school bus. Some whales are fairly small. These smaller whales are 1 .2 to 1 .8 meters, 4 to 6 feet, long. Dolphins are an example of a smaller whale.

引言。 鲸鱼的个头非常大。 事实上，它们是地球上现存最大的动物。 而且它们大概率是地球有史以来体型最大的动物。 它们比所有已知的恐龙都要大。 就算是大象，和鲸鱼比起来也很小。 一头巨型蓝鲸的身长能超过33米，也就是100英尺。 它的重量差不多相当于20辆校车。 它的心脏和一辆小汽车一样大。 对比来看，一头大象高4.3米（13英尺），重量还不到一辆校车。 有些鲸鱼的体型其实很小。 这些小型鲸鱼的身长在1.2到1.8米之间，也就是4到6英尺。 海豚就是小型鲸鱼的一种。

Types of whales. There are about 75 kinds of whales. Most whales fall into one of two groups. One group has teeth. They are called toothed whales. The other group does not have teeth. They are called baleen whales.

鲸鱼的种类 世界上大约有75种鲸鱼。 大多数鲸鱼可以分成两大类。 一类长有牙齿。 它们被称作齿鲸。 另一类没有牙齿。 它们被称作须鲸。

Toothed whales, which include dolphins and porpoises, have jaws lined with sharp teeth. They eat fish, squid, and other sea life. Larger toothed whales even eat seals. The killer whale, or orca, is a well -known toothed whale. Orcas are called killer whales because they are very good at hunting other animals.

齿鲸包括海豚和鼠海豚，它们的颌骨上长满了锋利的牙齿。 它们以鱼类、乌贼和其他海洋生物为食。 体型更大的齿鲸甚至会捕食海豹。 虎鲸又叫逆戟鲸，是大家很熟悉的齿鲸。 虎鲸被叫做“杀手鲸”，是因为它们非常擅长捕猎其他动物。

One of the strangest whales is the narwhal. It is a toothed whale. The male narwhal has a large tusk growing straight out of the front of its head. The tusk can be up to eight feet long.

独角鲸是最奇特的鲸鱼之一。 它属于齿鲸。 雄性独角鲸的额头正前方，会长出一根直直的长牙。 这根长牙最长可以长到8英尺。

Baleen wells have a special material called baleen that hangs from their upper jaw. Baleen looks a little like a giant feather or comb. It filters small fish and very small sea life from the ocean. It seems strange that such large creatures eat such tiny food.

须鲸的上颌垂着一种特殊的结构，叫做鲸须。 鲸须看起来有点像巨大的羽毛或者梳子。 它能从海水中滤出小鱼和微小的海洋生物。 这么庞大的动物却吃这么小的食物，听起来是不是很神奇？