Thursday, January 22, 2009

Life Photo Meme: Shiny




Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Monodontidea

I finally got to see a Beluga whale! However, they were so white and shiny it was hard to take a picture of them...

Here are some interesting facts about the Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucus). They can get to 4.5 meters (~15 ft) in length and weight about 1500 Kg (3300 lbs). The whales are born toothless after a 14 month gestation period. They nurse for one to two years. After getting their teeth, they eat darn near about anything (octopus, worms, and fish to name a few).

They are a very vocal species; so much so, that they are often called the "sea canary". They are also the only whale with free cervical vertebrae (rather than fused), which means that they are the only whale which can turn its head or nod. They are most closely related to the Narwhal.

3 comments:

Leslie said...

Now that's fascinating!

Anonymous said...

...very gorgious,actually the existence of beluga whale is quiet rare maybe.

Anonymous said...

as to beluga whale...it is very interesting.but what makes it shiny?how about their excretory system?how do beluga whales released their waste?