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Whales are marine mammals that nurse their young
and have a remarkable ability to think, communicate and socialize.
 rom massive blue whales, the
largest animals ever, to small harbour porpoises, which are less than two
metres long, whales are divided into two suborders: toothed
(Odontoceti) and baleen (Mysticeti).
Toothed whales can seize their prey, although they generally suck it into
their mouths and swallow it whole. Baleen whales have fringed plates of a
horn-like substance hanging from the roof of their mouths. These plates
act as a sieve through which large volumes of water are passed to trap
food.
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Right whale, showing baleen (whalebone)
(Source: A. Hyatt Verrill, The Real Story of the Whaler,
New York, 1923.)
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Sperm whale, showing teeth
(Source: A. Hyatt Verrill, The Real Story of the Whaler,
New York, 1923.)
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The quantity and quality of oil produced depended on the species, and
baleen had the added advantage of being a flexible material, so it
was used where some plastics and spring steel are found today.
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Whales
Illustration by Frédéric Back
(Source: Claude Villeneuve and Frédéric Back, Le fleuve
aux grandes eaux (Les éditions Québec /
Amérique inc. - Société Radio-Canada:
1995))
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