Cosma Home > Communication > Knowledge > Realm > Terrestrial > Sphere > Life > Animal > Whale
Spotlight
Note: This is a 360° Video — press and hold to explore it!
Related
Pages
Terrestrial (Earth)
Sphere Land, Ice, Water (Ocean), Air, Life (Cell, Gene, Microscope)
Ecosystem Forest, Grassland, Desert, Arctic, Aquatic
Tree of Life
Microorganism
Plant Flower, Tree
Animal
Invertebrate Octopus, Ant, Bee, Butterfly, Spider, Lobster
Vertebrate Fish, Seahorse, Ray, Shark, Frog, Turtle, Tortoise, Dinosaur
Bird, Ostrich, Owl, Crow, Parrot
Mammal Bat, Rabbit, Giraffe, Camel, Horse, Elephant, Mammoth
Whale, Dolphin, Walrus, Seal, Polar Bear, Bear, Cat, Tiger, Lion, Dog, Wolf
Monkey, Chimpanzee, Human
Resources
These are organized by a classification scheme developed exclusively for Cosma. More…
General
Portal
Whale World, Whales Portal (Wikipedia)
Dictionary
whale : any of various very large, aquatic, marine mammals (order Cetacea) that have a torpedo-shaped body with a thick layer of blubber, paddle-shaped forelimbs but no hind limbs, a horizontally flattened tail, and nostrils that open externally at the top of the head — Webster
OneLook, Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary
Thesaurus
Roget’s II (Thesaurus.com), Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Visuwords
Encyclopedia
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales are creatures of the open ocean; they feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. So extreme is their adaptation to life underwater that they are unable to survive on land. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 metric tons (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest creature that has ever lived. The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on earth. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males. Baleen whales have no teeth; instead they have plates of baleen, a fringe-like structure used to expel water while retaining the krill and plankton which they feed on. They use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in huge gulps of water. Balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Toothed whales, on the other hand, have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. Baleen whales have a well developed sense of “smell”, whereas toothed whales have well-developed hearing − their hearing, that is adapted for both air and water, is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species, such as sperm whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid and other favoured prey.– Wikipedia
Introduction
Note: This is a 360° Video — press and hold to explore it!
Outline
Search
Preservation
History
Quotation
Museum
Library
WorldCat, Library of Congress, UPenn Online Books, Open Library
Participation
Education
Course
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources
Organization
The Center for Whale Research
American Cetacean Society
News
The Center for Whale Research, Top Whale RSS Feeds
Science Daily, Phys.org, NPR Archives
Book
Government
Document
Expression
Fun
Arts
Dance
Poem
OEDILF: The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
Music
Fiction
A Literary History of Whales (Literary Hub)
Whales in Literature (Whale World)
Fictional Whales (Category, Wikipedia)
Whales in Fiction (Category, Wikipedia)
Folklore
Whale Mythology from around the World
The Folklore of the Whale (Arthur Waugh, JSTOR)
More…
Dolphins and Whales News -- ScienceDaily Whales and dolphins. Whale songs, beaching, endangered status -- current research news on all cetaceans.
- PCB contamination in Icelandic orcas: a matter of...on May 6, 2021 at 9:41 pm
A new study suggests that some Icelandic killer whales have very high concentrations of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in their blubber. But it seems that other orcas from the same population have levels of PCBs that are much lower. It mainly depends on what they eat.
- Urgent action needed to protect dolphins and...on May 5, 2021 at 3:13 pm
Marine scientists are calling on the EU to adopt a comprehensive plan to protect dolphins and porpoises from fisheries bycatch in European waters. To help address the bycatch issue, which is the primary global threat to dolphins and porpoises, the researchers put forward a framework to reduce bycatch levels.
- Mammals evolved big brains after big disasterson April 29, 2021 at 1:02 pm
A large study reveals the way relative brain size of mammals changed over the last 150 million years.
- Study of marine noise highlights need to protect...on April 28, 2021 at 1:44 pm
New research has found urgent action is needed to ensure human-made underwater noise in Australian waters does not escalate to levels which could be harmful to marine animals, such as whales, and negatively impact our pristine oceans.
- Know your ally: Cooperative male dolphins can...on April 22, 2021 at 1:38 pm
When it comes to friendships and rivalries, male dolphins know who the good team players are. New findings reveal that male dolphins form a social concept of team membership based on cooperative investment in the team.
Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.
- Inside the world of tiny phytoplankton:...on April 30, 2021 at 1:40 pm
Phytoplankton are microscopic algae living throughout the ocean's surface waters. They can't swim and are at the mercy of the currents and tides. Despite their small size, phytoplankton enable life in the oceans—and throughout the planet—to exist.
- Mammals' brains: New research shows bigger...on April 29, 2021 at 1:58 pm
If a friend boasts of having a "big-brained" dog, your reaction is probably not to ask "relative to what?" You would simply assume your friend thinks their dog is pretty smart. But are we always right to equate big brains with greater intelligence?
- Historic specimens highlight the key role viruses...on April 29, 2021 at 1:49 pm
As we continue to manage the ongoing pandemic, the role that viruses play has never been more relevant. They are present and attack pretty much every single living organism, from the biggest whale to the smallest bacteria, including a type of blue-green algae known as cyanobacteria.
- New study has scientists re-evaluating relative...on April 29, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Scientists from Stony Brook University and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior have pieced together a timeline of how brain and body size evolved in mammals over the last 150 million years. The findings, published in Science Advances, show that brain size relative to body size—long considered an indicator of animal intelligence—has not followed a stable scale over evolutionary time.
- Marine noise highlights the need to protect...on April 28, 2021 at 12:21 pm
New Curtin research has found urgent action is needed to ensure man-made underwater noise in Australian waters does not escalate to levels which could be harmful to marine animals, such as whales, and negatively impact our pristine oceans.