Cetaceans

WHALES

CETACEANS
generally characterized by

streamlined bodies that glide

easily through the marine
environment
range in size from less than 1
m long for a newborn vaquita
(Phocoena sinus), to 33 m in
an adult blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus)
occupy water ranging in
temperature from 2C to
over 30C
broken into two Suborders:
Mysticeti and Odontoceti

SUBORDER MYSTICETI
lack teeth completely as
adults (although teeth are
present in fetal baleen
whales)
feed, on relatively very
small marine organisms,
by means of a highly
specialized filter-feeding
apparatus made up of
baleen plates
(whalebone) attached to
the gum of the upper jaw
other differences from toothed whales: paired blowhole,
symmetrical skull, and absence of ribs articulating with the
sternum

Taxonomy
FAMILY BALAENIDAE(RIGHT WHALES, 4 SPECIES)
FAMILY NEOBALAENIDAE (PYGYMY RIGHT WHALE,

1 SPECIES)
FAMILY ESCHRICHTIIDAE (GRAY WHALE, 1
SPECIES)
FAMILY BALAENOPTERIDAE(RORQUALS, 9
SPECIES)

BALAENIDAE
right and bowhead whales
large and chunky, with heads that comprise

up to one-third of their body length

lack adorsal finor any trace of adorsal ridge
have developed a relatively passive skimfeeding technique, and tend to be slower than
other whales
baleen platesare the longest and have the
finest fringes of the 4 mysticete families

GenusBalaenahas 1 species
Balaenamysticetus(Bowhead whale)

Distribution

GenusEubalaenahas 3 species:
Eubalaena japonica (North Pacific right whale)
Eubalaenaaustralis(Southern right whale)
Eubalaenaglacialis(Northern right whale)

Distribution

NEOBALAENIDAE
single species, pygmy right whale, Caperea

marginata
found in cold temperate waters of southern
hemisphere
small, up to only 6m
body is gray, with strikingly white mouth and
tongue
poorly known/studied

Caperea marginata
The pygmy right whale has a distinctively curved jaw line

Distribution

ESCHRICHTIIDAE
single living species the gray

whale
gray whales live in pods of 3-12
individuals
long narrow heads
slightly arched upper jaws
small dorsal humps on their back

these whales are now restricted today to the

north Pacific (along east and west coasts)

Atlantic populations are now EXTINCT
every year gray whales spend two to three
months migrating 10,000 miles (16,000
kilometers) northwest Alaska in the Chukchi
Sea, where they live during the summer to
Baja, Mexico, where the live during the
winter

BALAENOPTERIDAE
6 species, 2 genera
minke, Bryde's, sei, fin, humpback, and blue

whales
often known as rorquals (from the Norse rrkva
l, whale with pleats in its throat)
shared external trait is the presence of deep
longitudinal grooves in the skin, running over the
entire throat and chest
feed by gulping large quantities of water and
straining crustaceans and fish by shooting the
water out between the baleen plates

Megaptera novaeangliae
(humpback whale)

In the summer, humpbacks are found in high latitude

feeding grounds, such as the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic
and Gulf of Alaska in the Pacific. In the winter, they migrate
to calving grounds in subtropical or tropical waters, such as
the Dominican Republic in the Atlantic and the Hawaiian
Islands in the Pacific.

Humpback whales live in all major oceans

from the equator to sub-polar latitudes.

Balaenoptera acutorostrata
(common minke whale)

The distribution of minke whales is considered

cosmopolitan because they can occur in polar,
temperate, and tropical waters in most seas and
areas worldwide.

SUBORDER ODONTOCETI
Odontoceti derives

from the Greek odous

or odontos for tooth
and ketos for seamonster hence
toothed seamonster referring to
the presence of teeth
tend to be smaller in
size than mysticetes

Orcinus orca

Taxonomy
FAMILY PHYSETERIDAE (SPERM WHALE, 1

SPECIES)
FAMILY KOGIIDAE (DWARF & PYGMY SPERM
WHALE,
2 SPECIES)
FAMILY ZIPHIIDAE(BEAKED WHALES, 21 SPECIES)
FAMILY MONODONTIDAE (BELUGA AND
NARWHAL
2 SPECIES)

PHYSETERIDAE
has 1 genus, 1 species only: Physeter

macrocephalus (sperm whale)

can be found from the edges of polar pack ice
to the equator in both the Northern and
Southern hemispheres and in deep semienclosed seas
considered as the largest whale among
odontocetes and are characterized by their
squamous head containing an organ complex
known as the spermaceti

Physeter macrocephalus

Distribution

Females and their dependent young usually remain in tropical

and temperate waters year-round, while males are thought to
move north in the summer to feed in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering
Sea and waters around the Aleutian Islands.

KOGIIDAE
pygmy and dwarfspermwhales (2 species, 1

genus)
much smaller and share only a slight
resemblance to the greatspermwhale
have blunt squarish heads, with underslung
lower jaws (like their larger counterparts)
height and position of the dorsal fin have
been reported as distinguishing the two
currently recognized species

GenusKogiahas 2 species:
Kogiabreviceps(Pygmyspermwhale)

Distribution

Kogiasimus(Dwarfspermwhale)

Distribution

ZIPHIIDAE
beaked whale
distinctive, long and narrow beaks
capable of prolonged deep dives
all feed on squid; some also include fish

in their diets
the social groups, insofar as is known,
consist of 3-40 individuals

Genus Berardius
has an antitropical distribution: Arnouxs

beaked whale Berardius arnuxii in cold

Southern Hemisphere waters and Bairds
beaked whale Berardius bairdii in the cold
temperate waters of the North Pacific

Berardius arnuxii

Berardius bairdii

From June to August,B. bairdiican be found in

warm waters near Japan and California and
near British Columbia in September. In the fall,
the whales migrate north towards the Bering
Sea and spend their winters in cold water near
the Aleutian islands. This may be due to
seasonal distribution of squid. They prefer
deep water, beyond the 1000 meter line

Genus Hyperoodon
The range ofHyperoodon
ampullatus(the northern
bottlenose whale) extends
from the polar ice of the
North Atlantic southwest
to Long Island Sound and
southeast to the Cape
Verde Islands. They
aremost commonly found
in waters at least 1000m
deep and often forages at
or near the north atlantic
ice shelf in sheltered
embayment during the
spring and summer.

Distribution of Hyperoodon ampullatus: North

Atlantic Ocean, normally in water deeper
than 1,000m

Genus Indopacetus
Specimens are recorded from Australia, Somalia,
South Africa, the Maldives, Kenya, and Japan.
From this information, the full range is currently
thought to be the Eastern Pacific through the
Indian Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa.
Specimens have appeared rarely but widely
throughout the Western Pacific and Indian
Oceans. Longmans beaked whales are pelagic
and feed in the deep sea. This conclusion is
based on the extreme rarity of sightings and
the lifestyles of related species.

Indopacetus pacificus

Distribution of Indopacetus pacificus: tropical

waters throughout the Indo-Pacific, from the
west
coast of Mexico to the east coast of Africa and
the Gulf of Aden

Genus Tasmacetus
although the geographic range of this species is not

clearly known,Tasmacetus shepherdi(Shepherd's

beaked whale, Tasman whale) probably has a
circumpolar distribution in temperate waters of the
southern hemisphere
have been found on beaches in New Zealand,
Australia, Brazil, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Chile,
and the Galapagos Islands
based on stomach contents and locations
whereTasmacetus shepherdihave washed ashore,
this species is likely benthic and inhabits temperate
waters of the southern hemisphere

Tasmacetus shepherdi

Distribution of Tasmacetus shepherdi: cold

temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere
(33S to 5350'S), predominantly New
Zealand

Genus Ziphius

Cuvier's beaked whales have a cosmopolitan

distribution, from temperate, subtropical, and tropical

waters
prefer deep"pelagic"waters (usually greater than
3,300ft (1,000m) of the continental slope and edge,
as well as around steep underwater geologic features

Distribution of Ziphius cavirostris: world-wide

distribution in tropical, subtropical, and
temperate waters

Genus Mesoplodon

As a group they are widespread, occurring in all of

the worlds oceans except for the coldest waters
of the Arctic and Antarctica. They normally inhabit
deep oceans waters (2000 m) or continental
slopes (2002000 m), and only rarely stray over
the continental shelf. The distribution of most
species tends to be somewhat localized (limited
to single ocean basins or a hemisphere within an
ocean basin; Table I ), although M. densirostris is
found in all tropical and warm temperate oceans
and is probably the most widespread and perhaps
most abundant mesoplodont.

MONODONTIDAE
comprises 2 living whale species, the narwhal

and the beluga whale

found at high latitudes in the arctic seas and
in most of the major rivers draining into them,
south to the Saint Lawrence River
found in schools, sometimes including more
than 100 individuals
migrate in response to the shifting ice pack
both species feed mainly on the bottom,
consuming a number of species of fish and
invertebrates

Beluga Whale
Delphinapterus leucas
very short, broad snout
lack a dorsal fin
have unfused cervical

vertebrae allowing lateral

flexibility of the head and
neck
unmistakable white color

Distribution
Beluga whales are widely
distributed around the
Arctic Ocean and
adjacent seas, and occur
mainly in shallow shelf
waters. Belugas return to
the same places year
after year, selecting them
based on factors such as
water depth and
temperature.They can
travel in pods of up to
200 whales, especially
later in the spring when
large cracks open in the
ice. Average group size is
about four belugas.

Narwhal
Monodon monoceros

long spiraled tusk

has a square head and appear to lack a snout
preference for remote and inaccessible habitats, usually

in areas over deep water that is covered with heavy

pack ice during dark winter months

Distribution
The narwhal is
discontinuously
circumpolar and arctic.
It is observed very
infrequently south of
65N in Greenland.
Narwhals migrate to
the same locations year
after year, preferring
deep water in both
winter and
summer.Narwhal travel
in groups of from one
to 50, with an average
group size of three.