Origin
The Greenland whale belongs to the order cetaceans, family Balaenidae. It is a species in danger of extinction, its hunting is prohibited by law.
These cetaceans live in groups (consisting of a small number of specimens) in Arctic and subarctic waters.
Feeding the Greenland Whale
About food, only the sea and the ocean can provide the necessary amount of food for the survival of this species.
Features Greenland Whale
The Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus) has the largest phanons of all whale species.
The phanons have a black-brown or sometimes black-blue coloration, have a length of 4.6 m and reach a number of 240-340 on each side of the upper jaw of curved and curved shape.
They have body length of 14-18m and weight of 50-60 tons. The massive head has about a third of the total body weight. They are exclusively aquatic inhabitants and with a corresponding structure – the huge body only in water could have such good mobility.
The body of this whale is heavy and bulky, the head is also enormously large, seems unevenly built, and to the body passes directly without any clear delimitation.
Towards the posterior part the trunk is thinned and ends with a wide flipper, consisting of two symmetrical lobes, positioned horizontally. The forewings show two large, elongated flippers. The body is covered with smooth and greasy skin, predominantly dark blue or even black, without any outgrowths, whale lice or shells on its surface.
In the particularly thickened skin is stored fat (in a layer that is 43-50 cm thick) - which helps protect the body from the cold but also to cushion the large pressure variations, to which the whale is exposed when diving. The bones are soaked in liquid fat, weigh little, and their structure does not allow the animal to have a support on land.
Being an aquatic animal with a special adaptation, its breathing is done through the lungs. The whale quickly rises to the surface of the water by moving its tail fin, fills its lungs with air, then descends again into the depths.
Breeding Greenland Whale
Females have a gestation period of about a year, then give birth to a single cub that is breastfed for no more than 12 months.
Each female gives birth once every 3-4 years. At birth the cub is 4-5 m long and weighs no more than 1000 kg. Like other species of whales, the life expectancy of the Greenland whale is over 100 years.
In spring and autumn they migrate in groups of 14, swimming in The Shape of the letter V. their food consists of krill, plankton, mollusks and crustaceans. Their worst enemies are killer whales and sea lions.
