A Humpback Whale. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen Whale.

Whales are cetaceans which are neither dolphins (i. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is Dolphins are Marine mammals that are closely related to Whales and Porpoises There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. e. members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor porpoises. Oceanic dolphins are the members of the Delphinidae family of Cetaceans These aquatic Mammals are related to Whales and Porpoises They River dolphins are four living species of Dolphin which reside in freshwater rivers and Estuaries. Porpoises are Small Cetaceans of the Family Phocoenidae; they are related to Whales and Dolphins They are distinct from dolphins Orcas (Killer Whales) and Pilot whales have "whale" in their name, but they are dolphins for the purpose of classification. The Orca or Killer Whale ( Orcinus orca) less commonly Blackfish or Seawolf, is the largest species of the Oceanic dolphin family The pilot whale is either of two Species of Cetacean in the Genus Globicephala. Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification The word comes from the Greek, taxis (meaning 'order' 'arrangement' and, nomos

The term whale is also sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans or just larger cetaceans. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is

Origins and taxonomy

A Fin Whale.

See also: Evolution of cetaceans and List of whale species

All cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, are descendants of land-living mammals of the Artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulate animals). The Cetaceans ( Whales Dolphins and Porpoises are descendants of land-living Mammals Their terrestrial origins are specifically indicated Whales are from the order Cetacea, which also includes the dolphins and porpoises The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used Both cetaceans and artiodactyl are now classified under the super-order Cetartiodactyla which includes both whales and hippos. Cetartiodactyla is the Clade to which Whales (including Dolphins and Even-toed ungulates have currently been placed The hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) from the Greek ἱπποπόταμος ( hippopotamos, ιππος hippos meaning "horse" In fact, whales are the closest living relatives of hippos; they evolved from a common ancestor at around 54 million years ago. In Genetics, the most recent common ancestor ( MRCA) of any set of Organisms is the most recent individual from which all organisms in the group are directly ^[1][2] Whales entered the water roughly 50 million years ago. ^[3]

Cetaceans are divided into two suborders:

• The baleen whales are characterized by baleen, a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin, which they use to filter plankton from the water. The baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the Cetacea (whales dolphins and Baleen or whalebone is the means by which Baleen whales feed These whales do not have Teeth, but instead have rows of baleen plates in Keratins are a family of fibrous structural proteins; tough and insoluble they form the hard but nonmineralized structures found in Reptiles Birds Plankton consist of any drifting Organisms ( Animals Plants Archaea, or Bacteria) that inhabit the Pelagic zone of They are the largest species of whale.
• The toothed whales have teeth and prey on fish, squid, or both. The toothed whales ( Systematic name Odontoceti) form a Suborder of the Cetaceans including sperm whales beaked whales orca dolphins An outstanding ability of this group is to sense their surrounding environment through echolocation. Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological Sonar used by several Animals such as Dolphins Shrews most Bats

A complete up-to-date taxonomical listing of all cetacean species, including all whales, is maintained at the Cetacea article. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is

Anatomy

Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk from mammary glands, and have some (although very little) hair. lung is the essential Respiration organ in air-breathing Animals including most Tetrapods a few Fish and a few Snails The most primitive Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the Mammary glands of female Mammals (including Monotremes. Mammary glands are the organs that in Mammals produce Milk for the sustenance of the young Hair is a keratinised protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the Dermis.

The body is fusiform, resembling the streamlined form of a fish. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two The forelimbs, also called flippers, are paddle-shaped. The end of the tail holds the fluke, or tail fins, which provide propulsion by vertical movement. Although whales generally do not possess hind limbs, some whales (such as sperm whales and baleen whales) sometimes have rudimentary hind limbs; some even with feet and digits. The Sperm Whale ( Physeter macrocephalus or Physeter catodon) is the largest of all Toothed whales and largest living toothed animal The baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the Cetacea (whales dolphins and Most species of whale bear a fin on their backs known as a dorsal fin. A dorsal fin is a Fin located on the backs of some Fishes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises as well as the (extinct

Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat, the blubber. The skin is the outer covering of living tissue of an animal (or plant Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized Fat found under the skin of all Cetaceans Pinnipeds and Sirenians Description It serves as an energy reservoir and also as insulation. In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός The term thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of Heat transfer, or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer Whales have a four-chambered heart. The heart is a muscular organ in all Vertebrates responsible for pumping Blood through the Blood vessels by repeated rhythmic The neck vertebrae are fused in most whales, which provides stability during swimming at the expense of flexibility. The neck is the part of the Body on many limbed Vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the Torso or trunk A vertebra (plural vertebrae) is an individual Irregular bone in the spinal or Vertebral column ( aka ischis a flexuous and flexible column Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance They have a pelvis bone, which is a vestigial structure. Vestigiality describes homologous characters of Organisms which have lost all or most of their original function in a species through

Whales breathe through their blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. In Biology, a blowhole is the hole at the top of a Cetacean's head through which the animal breathes air Baleen whales have two; toothed whales have one. The baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the Cetacea (whales dolphins and The toothed whales ( Systematic name Odontoceti) form a Suborder of the Cetaceans including sperm whales beaked whales orca dolphins The shapes of whales' spouts when exhaling after a dive, when seen from the right angle, differ between species. Whales have a unique respiratory system that lets them stay underwater for long periods of time without taking in oxygen. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours holding a single breath. The Sperm Whale ( Physeter macrocephalus or Physeter catodon) is the largest of all Toothed whales and largest living toothed animal The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived, and the largest living animal, at up to 35 m (105ft) long and 150 tons. The Blue Whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a Marine mammal belonging to the suborder of Baleen whales (called Mysticeti

Whales generally live for 30-90 years, depending on their species, and on rare occasions can be found to live over a century. Recently a fragment of a lance used by commercial whalers in the 19th century has been found in a bowhead whale caught off Alaska, which showed the whale to be between 115 and 130 years old. The Bowhead Whale ( Balaena mysticetus) also known as Greenland Right Whale or Arctic Whale, is a Baleen whale of the right whale family ^[4] Furthermore, a technique for dating age from aspartic acid racemization in the whale eye, combined with a harpoon fragment, indicates an age of 211 years for one male, making bowhead whales the longest lived extant mammal species. Aspartic acid (abbreviated as Asp or D; Asx or B represent either aspartic acid or Asparagine) is an α- Amino acid In Chemistry racemization refers to partial conversion of one Enantiomer into another A harpoon is a long Spear -like instrument used in Fishing to catch fish or other large aquatic animals such as Whales It accomplishes this task by impaling ^[5][6]

Whale flukes often can be used as identifying markings, as is the case for humpback whales. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen Whale. This is the method by which the publicized errant Humphrey the whale was identified in three separate sightings. Humphrey the Whale is arguably the most widely publicized Humpback whale in history having errantly entered San Francisco Bay twice departing from his Mexico

Anatomy of the ear

See also: Evolution of cetaceans

While there are direct similarities between the ears of whales and humans, whales’ ears have specific adaptations to their underwater environment. The Cetaceans ( Whales Dolphins and Porpoises are descendants of land-living Mammals Their terrestrial origins are specifically indicated The ear is the sense organ that detects Sounds The Vertebrate ear shows a common biology from Fish to Humans with variations Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus In humans, the middle ear works as an impedance matcher between the outside air’s low-impedance and the cochlear fluid’s high-impedance. In aquatic mammals such as whales, however, there is no great difference between the outer and inner environments. Instead of sound passing through outer ear to middle ear, whales receive sound through their lower jaw, where it passes through a low-impedance, fat-filled cavity. The jaw is either of the two opposable structures forming or near the entrance to the Mouth. ^[7][8]

Behavior

A Humpback Whale breaching. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen Whale.

Whales are widely classed as predators, but their food ranges from microscopic plankton to very large fish. Plankton consist of any drifting Organisms ( Animals Plants Archaea, or Bacteria) that inhabit the Pelagic zone of Males are called bulls; females, cows. The young are called calves.

As mammals, whales breathe air and must surface to get oxygen. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the This is done through a blowhole. Many whales also exhibit other surfacing behaviours such as breaching and tail slapping. Whales exhibit various types of behaviour' when they surface This article describes the different behaviours commonly observed at sea and the possible reasons for

Because of their environment (and unlike many animals), whales are conscious breathers: they decide when to breathe. All mammals sleep, including whales, but they cannot afford to fall into an unconscious state for too long, since they need to be conscious in order to breathe. Sleep is a Natural state of bodily rest observed throughout the animal kingdom It is thought that only one hemisphere of their brains sleeps at a time, so that whales are never completely asleep, but still get the rest they need. This is thought because whales often sleep with only one eye open.

Whales also communicate with each other using lyrical sounds, called whale song. Whale song is the Sound made by Whales to communicate. The word " Song " is used in particular to describe the pattern of regular Being so large and powerful, these sounds are also extremely loud (depending on the species); sperm whales have only been heard making clicks, as all toothed whales (Odontoceti) use echolocation and can be heard for many miles. The toothed whales ( Systematic name Odontoceti) form a Suborder of the Cetaceans including sperm whales beaked whales orca dolphins Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological Sonar used by several Animals such as Dolphins Shrews most Bats They have been known to generate about 20,000 acoustic watts of sound at 163 decibels. ^[9]

Females give birth to a single calf. Nursing time is long (more than one year in many species), which is associated with a strong bond between mother and young. In most whales reproductive maturity occurs late, typically at seven to ten years. This mode of reproduction spawns few offspring, but provides each with a high probability of survival in the wild. In Ecology, r/K selection theory relates to the selection of traits which promote success in particular environments

The male genitals are retracted into cavities of the body during swimming, so as to be streamlined and reduce drag. Most whales do not maintain fixed partnerships during mating; in many species the females have several mates each season. At birth newborn are delivered tail-first, minimising the risk of drowning. Whale cows nurse by actively squirting milk the consistency of toothpaste into the mouths of their young preventing loss to the surrounding aquatic environment. Toothpaste is a Paste or Gel Dentifrice used to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of Teeth. ^[10]

Human effects

Whaling

Main article: Whaling

A fossil whale bone found at California Beach

World map of International Whaling Commission (IWC) members/non-members(member countries in blue). Whaling is the hunting of Whales and dates back to at least 6000 BC FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.

World population graph of Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus). The Blue Whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a Marine mammal belonging to the suborder of Baleen whales (called Mysticeti

Eighteenth century engraving of Dutch whalers hunting Bowhead Whales in the Arctic. The Bowhead Whale ( Balaena mysticetus) also known as Greenland Right Whale or Arctic Whale, is a Baleen whale of the right whale family The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. Beerenberg on Jan Mayen Land can be seen in the background. Beerenberg is the world's northernmost active Volcano located at the island Jan Mayen. Jan Mayen Island is a 55 km (34 miles long (southwest-northeast and 373 km² (144  mi²) in area Arctic Volcanic island in the

Some species of large whales are endangered as a result of commercial whaling from the eleventh century to the twentieth. Whaling is the hunting of Whales and dates back to at least 6000 BC For centuries large whales have been hunted for oil, meat, baleen and ambergris (a perfume ingredient from the intestine of sperm whales). Whale oil is the oil obtained from the Blubber of various species of Whales particularly the three species of Right Whale ( Eubalaena japonica Baleen or whalebone is the means by which Baleen whales feed These whales do not have Teeth, but instead have rows of baleen plates in Ambergris ( Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, ambergrease, or grey Amber) is a solid waxy flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish The Sperm Whale ( Physeter macrocephalus or Physeter catodon) is the largest of all Toothed whales and largest living toothed animal By the middle of the 20th century, whaling left many populations severely depleted.

The International Whaling Commission introduced a six year moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986, which has been extended to the present day. The International Whaling Commission ( IWC) is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW, which For various reasons some exceptions to this moratorium exist; current whaling nations are Norway, Iceland and Japan and the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For details, see whaling. Whaling is the hunting of Whales and dates back to at least 6000 BC

Several species of small whales are caught as bycatch in fisheries for other species. In the tuna fishery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific thousands of dolphins were drowned in purse-seine nets, until measures to prevent this were introduced. Tuna, are several Species of ocean-dwelling Fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Fishing gear and deployment modifications, and eco-labelling (dolphin-safe or dolphin-friendly brands of canned tuna), have contributed to a reduction in the mortality of dolphins by tuna fishing vessels in recent years. Ecolabel is a labelling system for consumer products (excluding foods and medicine that are made in a fashion that avoids detrimental effects on the environment In many countries, small whales are still hunted for food, oil, meat or bait.

Sonar interference

Environmentalists have long speculated that some cetaceans, including whales, are endangered by sonar used by advanced navies. Sonar (which started as an Acronym for sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses Sound propagation (usually underwater to navigate Sonar (which started as an Acronym for sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses Sound propagation (usually underwater to navigate In 2003 British and Spanish scientists suggested in Nature that sonar is connected to whale beachings and to signs that the beached whales have experienced decompression sickness. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869 ^[11] Responses in Nature the following year discounted the explanation. ^[12] Mass whale beachings occur in many species, mostly beaked whales that use echolocation systems for deep diving. The frequency and size of beachings around the world, recorded over the last 1,000 years in religious tracts and more recently in scientific surveys, has been used to estimate the changing population size of various whale species by assuming that the proportion of the total whale population beaching in any one year is constant.

Despite the concerns raised about sonar which may invalidate this assumption, this population estimate technique is still popular today. Talpalar and Grossman argue that it is the combination of the high pressure environment of deep-diving with the disturbing effect of the sonar which causes decompression sickness and stranding of whales. Decompression sickness (DCS, the diver’s disease, the bends, caisson disease is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person ^[13] Thus, an exaggerated startle response occurring during deep diving may alter orientation cues and produce rapid ascent.

Following public concern, the U. S. Defense department was ordered by the US circuit court in California to strictly limit use of its Low Frequency Active Sonar during peacetime. Sonar (which started as an Acronym for sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses Sound propagation (usually underwater to navigate Attempts by the UK-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society to obtain a public inquiry into the possible dangers of the Royal Navy's equivalent (the "2087" sonar launched in December 2004) have so far failed. ( WDCS) the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is a wildlife Charity that is dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all whales dolphins A public inquiry is an official Review of events or actions ordered by a country's state's or province's government The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Sonar 2087 is a Towed array sonar system for Royal Navy Type 23 frigates manufactured by Thales Underwater Systems. The European Parliament on the other hand has requested that EU members refrain from using the powerful sonar system until an environmental impact study has been carried out. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU

Other environmental disturbances

Conservationists are concerned that seismic testing used for oil and gas exploration may damage the hearing and echolocation capabilities of whales. They also suggest that disturbances in magnetic fields caused by the testing may also be responsible for beaching. ^[14]

Some scientists and environmentalists suggest that some whale species are also endangered due to a number of other human activities such as the unregulated use of fishing gear, that often catch anything that swims into them, collisions with ships. Toxins and the combination of toxins, particularly POPs (which concentrate up the food chain), are known to cause hearing loss by inhibiting the function of outer hair cells. Persistent organic pollutants ( POP s are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic Hair cells are the Sensory receptors of both the Auditory system and the Vestibular system in all Vertebrates. ^[15]

Whales are also threatened by climate change and global warming. Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the As the Antarctic Ocean warms, krill populations, that are the main food source of some species of whales, reduce dramatically, being replaced by jelly like salps. The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of Krill are a type of Shrimp -like marine Invertebrate animal These small Crustaceans are important organisms of the Zooplankton, particularly A salp (plural salps; also salpa, plural salpae or salpas) is a barrel-shaped free-floating Tunicate.

Whales in culture

Whale weather-vane atop the Nantucket Historical Association Whaling Museum.

• A kenning in Beowulf refers to the sea as the "whale-road". A kenning ( Old Norse kenning, Modern Icelandic pronunciation) is a Circumlocution used instead of an ordinary Noun in Old Norse Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between This article is about the body of water For other uses see SEA and Seas.
• Procopius mentions a whale, nicknamed Porphyrio by the Byzantines, who depleted fisheries in the Sea of Marmara. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c The Sea of Marmara ( Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίς, Bulgarian
• The King James Version of the Bible mentions whales four times: "And God created great whales" (Genesis 1:21); "Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? (Job 7:12); "Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas (Ezekiel 32:2); and "For as Jonas [sic] was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). The Book of Job ( איוב) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. According to religious texts Ezekiel ((יְחֶזְקֵאל Yehezkel, jəx The Gospel of Matthew (Gk Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιον is one of the four Canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a Synoptic gospel
  • The New International Version uses "creatures of the sea"; "monster of the deep"; "monster"; and "huge fish" respectively instead of the word 'whale'. The New International Version is an English Translation of the Christian Bible.
  • The story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale also is mentioned in the Qur'an. According to the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh / Old Testament) and Qur'an, Jonah (; Arabic: يونس, Yunus or The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran
  • John Tavener's composition The Whale is based on the story of Jonah. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Not to be confused with John Taverner The Whale is a "dramatic Cantata " written by the English composer John Tavener in 1966
• Alan Hovhaness wrote a piece for orchestra entitled And God Created Great Whales. Alan Hovhaness (Ալան Հովհանես ( March 8, 1911 &ndash June 21, 2000) was an American Composer of Armenian
• The poet Heathcote Williams wrote a long poem entitled Whale Nation. John Henley Jasper Heathcote-Williams (born 15 November 1941) is an English Poet, Actor and Playwright.
• In the children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio and subsequent adaptations, Pinocchio and his father are swallowed by a whale. The Adventures of Pinocchio (pɪˈnoʊˌkioʊ) (Le avventure di Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Pinocchio (piˈnɔkːjo in Italian is a fictional character that first appeared in 1883, in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and
• A whaling voyage is the plot of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. Whaling is the hunting of Whales and dates back to at least 6000 BC Herman Melville (August 1 1819 &ndash September 28 1891 was an American novelist Short story writer Essayist and poet A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Moby-Dick is an 1851 Novel by Herman Melville. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship In the book, Melville classed whales as "a spouting fish with a horizontal tail", this despite science suggesting otherwise the previous century. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two The tail is the section at the rear end of an Animal 's Body; in general the term refers to a distinct flexible Appendage to the Torso. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system (His narrator acknowledged "the grounds upon which Linnaeus would fain have banished the whales from the waters" but writes that when he presented them to "my friends Simeon Macey and Charley Coffin, of Nantucket . Ishmael is the narrator (and arguably the Protagonist) of the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by U Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for . . they united in the opinion that the reasons set forth were altogether insufficient. Charley profanely hinted they were humbug" (Chapter 32). Humbug is an archaic term meaning " Hoax " or "jest" ) Melville's book is a classic of American literature: part adventure novel, part metaphysical allegory, and part natural history; it is essentially a summary of 19th century knowledge about the biology, ecology and cultural significance of the whale. American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. The adventure novel is a Literary genre of novels that has Adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger as its main theme Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Natural history is the Scientific research of Plants or Animals leaning more towards the Observational than Experimental methods Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of
• Some cultures associate some level of divinity with the whale, such as in some places in Ghana and the Vietnamese, who occasionally hold funerals for beached whales, a throwback to Vietnam's ancient sea-based Austro-asiatic culture. Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the The Vietnamese people (người Việt or vi ''người Kinh'' are an Ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China.
• Festivals celebrating whales have sprung in both Sitka and Kodiak Alaska. Kodiak (Кадьяк is one of 6 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough in the U Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent They feature speakers on marine biology and celebrate the creatures with art, music, whale watching cruises, and symposia. Marine biology is the scientific study of living Organisms in the Ocean or other marine or Brackish bodies of water Whale watching is the practice of observing Whales and other Cetaceans in their natural habitat
• In the British series Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a whale, alongside a bowl of petunias, is created by the use of the Infinite Improbability Drive. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series

See also

• Cetacea
• List of whale species
• Category:Cetaceans

References

General references

External links

• Whale Evolution
• Greenpeace work defending whales
• Save the Whales, founded in 1977
• AquaNetwork Marine Mammal Project
• Oldest whale fossil confirms amphibious origins
• Research on dolphins and whales from Science Daily
• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - latest news and information on whales and dolphins
• The Oceania Project - Caring for whales and dolphins
• Whales Tohorā Exhibition Minisite from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa