Greenland whale - a mammal belonging to the order Cetaceans, family Smooth whales. In Latin, it is called Balaena mysticetus. There was a time when populations of these animals lived in the oceans of the entire Northern Hemisphere.
However, today they are found only in the Bering and
Okhotsk seas, in the area of the Svalbard archipelago, the Davis Strait and the Hudson Bay. According to scientists, the total number of these mammals does not exceed 10,000 individuals.
The bowhead whale is second only to the bluff in size. Its length can exceed 20 m, of which a third is on the head. The mass can reach up to 130 tons. Interestingly, females are larger than males. The color is predominantly dark, only under the lower jaw there is a large white spot.
The structure of the oral cavity is specific, associated with the image of nutrition. On the curved jaws there are numerous plates (up to 400 pieces) with a height of more than 4 m and a width of less than 0.3 m, called a whalebone. Greenland whale feeds on plankton and small fish. While collecting food, he swims with his mouth open. Everything that gets into the oral cavity lingers on the plates, is scraped off with the tongue and swallowed. The mass of daily food consumed is estimated at 1.8 tons.
Its pectoral fins are shortened, expanded, rounded. The skin is smooth has a bowhead whale. The photos presented in the article demonstrate the absence of horny growths and attached crustaceans. Subcutaneous fat in an adult is about 70 cm. It is very important, because it neutralizes the excess
pressure of water during immersion and protects against hypothermia. Their body temperature is normally the same as in humans (they are mammals). The eyes are small with a thickened cornea. From the effects of salt water they are protected by special glands that secrete an oily liquid. Sight in the water is poor, on the surface is better.
The bowhead whale is capable of diving to a depth of 0.2 km and surfacing after 40 minutes. The time spent under water depends on the amount of air in the lungs. His nostrils are located on the top of the head, they open only at the time of inhalation-exhalation, the muscles of the nasal canal prevent water from entering the lungs. The whale begins to exhale at the surface of the water, the result is a fountain, the height of which can exceed 10 m. The need to breathe air makes these mammals break through the ice thickness of 25 cm.
There is no auricle, but the hearing is very well developed.
The inner ear perceives both sound and ultrasonic vibrations. The range of emitted sounds is wide. The bowhead whale has a sonar that allows you to navigate well in the ocean. The time between the sound produced and its return indicates to the animal the distance to a specific object on the way.
Sometimes a polar whale (also called this giant) jumps out of the water, claps its fins on the body and plunges onto one of the sides. Such attractions occur during the period of migration and the mating season.
Reproduction is not well understood, although it is known that pregnancy lasts about 13 months. A baby is born 4 meters high. During the year, he eats mother's milk. Whales become sexually mature by the age of 20. They live an average of 40 years.