15 Wonderfully Weird Facts About Whales

By:
15 Wonderfully Weird Facts About Whales

Remember Star Trek IV: The One About The Whales? They plucked those two wonderful behemoths from the streets of San Francisco and whisked them up into space to save Earth from a giant space cigar. You know, it looked like the IRL one from a couple years back. Anyway, Spock could talk to them, that's all that matters. Spock can mind-meld with anything. Totally give Aquaman a run for his Atlantean money, whatever that is. 

We're getting a little off-track here.

What we're doing here today is taking you on one of those whale-watching tours. You'll get all the facts: from whale BFFs to wait, those testicles weigh how much?!? — without having to sit next to some chirpy rando from Cracked blathering on about Star Trek IV or getting a blast of seawater to the noggin. Nope, here’s just a list of some incredible facts about the giant of the sea, that wonderful whale.

What's your whale type?

Whales can be divided into two main types. Baleen whales {14 species) have baleen sheets that they use to sieve their prey from seawater, and toothed whales (76 species) have teeth to bite with. Baleen whales are also pretty huge in general-think humpbacks and blue whales - and they have two blowholes where toothed whales only have one. CRACKED.COM

Source

Wisdom tooth

Toothed whales are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Pictured: A Beluga whale. Thanks to their large brains they exhibit complex behavior-they can teach and learn from others. CRACKED.COM

Source

That's...huge.

North Atlantic right whales have the largest testicles in the world. They weigh in at around 500kg/half a ton, each. CRACKED.COM

Source

#NotAllWhales

Not all whales echolocate. Pictured: Beluga whale, a toothed whale that can echolocate. Baleen whales do not echolocate but they do use sounds including singing, moaning, and pulsing to communicate with each other. CRACKED.COM

Source

Whale of a tail

Whale tails are like fingerprints. No whale tail's the same. Scientists refer to it as their fluke IDs. CRACKED.COM

Source

*bowing heads*

Grandpa Bowhead Bowhead whales-baleen whales that are found in the Arctic-can live up to 200 years. It's believed that the reason for their longevity has to do with genes that can repair damaged DNA. CRACKED.COM

Source

That is some thick milk

Whale milk is the texture of toothpaste. A whale's milk is almost 50% fat {cow's milk is 4%), allowing it to travel through water without just scattering and dissolving because the mothers often shoot streams of milk into their baby's mouths. CRACKED.COM

Source

Humpback whales and wind turbine tech

Humpback whales have inspired better wind turbine technology. Humpbacks have little bumps on the edges of their flippers that help them maneuver and make tricky turns at high speeds to generate lift and catch their food. It's called the tubercle effect and it's been used in wind turbine technology to reduce drag and keep turbine blades from stalling. CRACKED.COM

Source

Bubbles!

Some whales catch their food using bubbles. Called bubble-net feeding, some whale species have been seen blowing deliberate bubbles with their noses to encircle and capture their food. CRACKED.COM

Source

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

MUST READ

Forgot Password?