The largest marine animal is the whale. Moreover, whales are the largest animals not only in the seas and oceans, but in general in the whole world! Whales are mammals, not fish. They breathe not with gills, but with lungs. This is why whales cannot stay under water all the time - from time to time they still need to rise to the surface of the water to take a breath of fresh air. By the way, it was then that a large fountain can be observed over the sea.
Instructions
Step 1
The largest of all whales is the blue (or blue) whale. Its body is 33 meters long and weighs about 200 tons. The blue whale is not only the largest animal in the world, but also the most mysterious: zoologists admit that they still do not really know anything about these giants. The difficulty in studying the life of these animals lies in the fact that blue whales live in open oceans, and this presents significant inconveniences in the study. It is curious that the heart of a blue whale weighs about 700 kg, and its tongue weighs 4 tons.
Step 2
As mentioned above, whales are mammals. In other words, they give birth to live babies by feeding them with milk. Scientists have noted that a whale's milk is 10 times more nutritious than a cow's milk. That is why little whales grow up quite quickly. They don’t suck milk because they don’t have lips. The kitten clasps the mother's nipple with her mouth, and she, in turn, injects milk into his mouth with the help of certain muscles.
Step 3
The largest marine animals in the world swim at speeds up to 50 km / h. They are also excellent divers. For example, a sperm whale can dive to depths of up to 3000 meters. A thick layer of fat helps whales to dive to such radical depths, saving them from hypothermia. These animals may not float to the surface for as long as 2 hours thanks to a special overgrown nostril, which retains air for this time.
Step 4
The stomach of the world's largest marine animal can hold up to 3 tons of food. A peculiar way of feeding divides the whales into grabbing (toothed whales) and filtering (baleen whales). The first species includes killer whales, dolphins and sperm whales. For example, killer whales prey on seals and fur seals, while dolphins feed exclusively on fish. Sperm whales love squids: they dive to great depths after them.
Step 5
Baleen whales include bowhead whales, smooth whales, gray whales, and minke whales. The huge size of the body and mouth make these animals outwardly quite scary, but this is far from the case. Baleen whales are some of the most harmless animals in the world! Their esophagus is so small that these creatures feed only on plankton and small crustaceans. Their "whiskers" consist of two rows of horny plates that hang from the upper jaw. Through them, the whale filters the water, filtering out plankton and tiny crustaceans.
Step 6
In total, about 86 species of cetaceans live in the world. These creatures live in almost all oceans and seas of the planet Earth. Whales are often called the lords of the seas. The famous explorer of the ocean and sea depths, Jacques Cousteau, called one of his books about whales: "The Mighty Lord of the Seas." The lords of the seas and oceans live up to 50 years.
