Cetaceans

“When we return wild animals to nature, we merely return them to what is already theirs. For man cannot give wild animals freedom, they can only take it away.” (Jacques Cousteau). For decades marine mammals have been captured and exhibited for the pleasure and entertainment for humans. However recently the documentary Blackfish has brought attention to the abuse that these marine mammals have been subjected to. Orcas face performance consequences, medical problems, and a shorter lifespan.…

South Korea “commercial and subsistence whaling are both illegal;” however, “domestic sales of cetacean products such as skin, blubber and red meat are allowed if they are accidentally caught” (MacMillan Han, 1). It is being believed that “whales are being deliberately killed through drowning and other means, and disguised as by-catch” (MacMillan Han, 1). As a result of “weak scientific data” and “cetaceans providing significant income to hard-pressed Korean fishermen,” the government is…

southern hemisphere. The whales are vital to the food chain, stabilizing the food flow and maintaining a healthy ocean so the rapidly decreasing number of whales are going to have major effects on the ocean's ecosystem. Whales are considered to be "cetaceans which means various aquatic life chiefly marine…

Since the world is continuingly changing, mammals needed to also change their habits and adjust so that they may continue to thrive and live. Three exemplary mammals that adapted so that they could exploit aquatic environments are the Orcinus orca, a cetacean, more commonly known as the killer whale, the Trichechus inunguis, a Sirenia, more commonly called the Amazonian manatee, and finally the Ornithorhynchus anatinus, a Monotreme, commonly known as the platypus. Each one of these mammals…

comes with a dark, intimidating pain. I believe that he does his actions to relieve the pain that he is facing on the inside, where his idea of humanity has been twisted and corrupted. “But look at me now,” he says, disgusted. “I’m a veritable whale. Cetacean is the word. A whale, yes. I was never like this, before. My stomach was flat and my shoulders broad. I was wall; I had long, strong legs…I don’t like to say it, Mercy, but I think the doctor gave me this form on purpose, when I had to…

The Atlantic spotted dolphin is a mammal that is a part of the cetacean family. When it comes to appearance, these dolphins have a grayish skin color with dark and light spots scattered all around the body. When they are born, they are just gray, however as they get older they begin to form spot which appear to increase in number as they get older. Once the Atlantic spotted dolphin is fully matured, it will reach a maximum length of 7 ½ ft and can way over 300 pounds. The females usually…

Many people confuse porpoises with dolphins but they are actually different animals. They both are Cetaceans and have similar shapes but that’s about as far as their similarities go. The most confused species of porpoise and dolphin are the Harbour Porpoise and the Bottlenose Dolphin found in Britain’s seas. This is because from far away they look similar, but if you actually look at the two of them you would see they are very different. For the sake of simplicity, one can compare the…

4. Uptake and bioaccumulation of plastic derived chemicals A key factor contributing to the bioavailability of microplastics is their small size, density, color, surface (smooth or rough) (Stephanie L. Wright a,2013). Food chain disturbance in marine environment is the major problem because due to ingestion of plastic which consists of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), POP and PAH. They absorbs/bioaccumulation in the fatty acid of living organism and cause death of the species. At least 180…

Megalodon , meaning "big tooth," is an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 23 to 2.6 million years ago (mya), during the Early Miocene to the end of the Pliocene. There has been some debate regarding the taxonomy of megalodon: some researchers argued that it was of the family Lamnidae and closely related to the great white shark, while others argued that it belonged to the extinct family Otodontidae; presently, there is consensus that the latter view is correct. Its genus placement…

Commonly known as the Killer whale, Orcinis Orca, isn’t actually a whale: its part of the dolphin family. (Ocean Today, n.d.) It does share a lot of the same characteristics of dolphins, but the Orca has some unique features of its own. Its camouflage coloring for example, is counter shaded, black on the top and mostly white on the bottom. If you are looking down from above, the black on the dorsal side mixes with the dark waters of the ocean. If you’re looking up from below, the white on the…