Whales Essays (1335 words) - Baleen Whales, Megafauna, Cetaceans

Whales The Blue whale is the largest creature of the sea; in fact, it's the largest creature known to man. Contrary to what most people think, even though Blue whales live in the sea, they are mammals. They breathe air, have their babies born alive, and can live anywhere from 30 to 70 years. The Blue whale is a baleen whale, and instead of having teeth, Blue whales have around 300-400 baleen plates in their mouths. Baleen are rows of coarse, bristle-like fibers used to strain plankton from the water. Baleen is made of keratin, the same material as our fingernails. The Blue whale is called a "rorqual", a Norwegian word for "furrow" referring to the pleated grooves running from its chin to its naval. The pleated throat grooves allow the Blue whale's throat to expand during the huge intake of water during filter feeding; they can"hold 1,000 tons or more of food and water when fully expanded" (Small 1971). They average about 50-70 throat grooves. Blue whales grow up to about 80 feet (25m) long on average, weighing about 120 tons. The females are generally larger than the males, this is the case for all baleen whales. "The largest specimen found was a female 94 feet (29m) long weighing more than 174 tons" (Satchell 1998). The head of the Blue whale forms up to a quarter of the total body length. Compared with other rorquals, the head is very broad. The blue whale heart is also large, the size of a small car and can pump almost 10 tons of blood throughout the body. They also have a very small, falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsal fin that is located near the fluke, or tail. Blue whales have long, thin flippers 8 feet (2.4m) long and flukes that are 25feet (7.6m) wide. The blue whale's skin is usually blue-gray with white-gray spots. The underbelly has brown, yellow, or gray specks. During the winter, in cold waters, diatoms stick to the underbelly, giving it a yellow to silver- to sulfur-colored sheen; giving the blue whale its nick-name of "sulfur bottoms". Other names include Sibbald's Rorqual and Great Northern Rorqual. Blue whales (like all baleen whales) are seasonal feeders and carnivores that filter feed tiny crustaceans (krill, copepods, etc), plankton, and small fish from the water. Krill, or shrimp-like euphasiids are no longer than 3 inches. It is amazing that the world's largest animals feed on the smallest marine life. Blue whales are gulpers, filter feeders that alternatively swim, then gulp a mouthful of plankton or fish. "An average-sized blue whale will eat 2,000-9,000 pounds (900- 4100kg) of plankton each day during the summer feeding season in cold, arctic waters (120 days)" (Hasley 1984). The blue whale has twin blowholes with exceptionally large fleshy splashguards to the front and sides. It has about 320 pairs of black baleen plates with dark gray bristles in the blue whale's jaws. These plates can be 35-39 inches (90cm-1m) long, 21 inches (53cm) wide, and weigh 200 pounds (90kg). The tongue weighs 4 tons. Blue whales live individually or in very small pods (groups). They frequently swim in pairs. When the whale comes to the surface of the water, it takes a large breath of air. Then it dives back into the water, going to a depth of 350 feet (105m). Diving is also the way in which whales catch most of their food. Whales can stay under water for up to two hours without coming to the surface for more air. Blue whales breath air at the surface of the water through 2 blowholes located near the top of the head. " They breathe about 1-4 times per minute at rest, and 5-12 times per minute after a deep dive" (Hasley 1984) Their blow is a single stream that rises 40-50 feet (12-15m) above the surface of the water. They are also very fast swimmers; they normally swim 3-20 mph, but can go up to 24-30mph in bursts when in danger. Feeding speeds are slower, usually about 1-4mph. The whales emit very loud, highly structured, repetitive low-frequency sounds that can travel form many miles underwater. They are probably the loudest animals alive, louder than a jet engine. These songs may be used for locating large masses of krill (tiny crustaceans that they eat) and for communicating with other blue whales. Blue whales typically are found in the open ocean and live at the surface. They are found in all the oceans of the world. The majority of Blue whales live in the Southern Hemisphere.

Reality Vs. Idealism Essays - Fiction, Literature, Free Essays

Reality Vs. Idealism Essays - Fiction, Literature, Free Essays Reality Vs. Idealism In the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce quickly drifted from realism in the beginning of the story to idealism throughout the rest of the selection. Immediately before Peyton experiences his first idealistic event, Bierce described a realistic thought on how Peyton closed his eyes and attempted to fix his final thoughts on his loved ones, his wife and children. Bierce described an idealistic observation by the main character, Peyton as he explained how he could see the intricate details through the vibrancy of the leaves of trees on the riverbank. As the story goes on Bierce often refers to the soldiers, the captain, the sergeant, the two privates, and his executioners as monsters. He refers to their movements as grotesque and horrible and their size gigantic. As Peyton tore off the noose around his neck and thrust it aside vigorously, he described how the movements of his hands resembled the movements of a water snake. As Peyton began on his final thoug hts reality faded quickly to an unrealistic point of view, or state of mind. Bierce described an unrealistic, super natural sort of power that Peyton obtained as he emerged from the stream. At that moment Peyton was in full possession of his physical senses and could feel and understand things never before perceived. The first sense that he had noticed was his amplified sight and his perception living things. From the stream he noticed the distinct colors in the dewdrops upon the blades of grass. He could see from across the bank, the gray spiders connecting their webs from twig to twig. As he noticed the veining of each leaf on the trees he also observed every little insect upon them. He could see everything as if it was in slow motion and amplified to the creators explanation of how and what steps he took to paint his master piece. Bierce described his second unrealistic encounter as his sense of hearing being amplified, as to hear every little sound, far and near. As Bierce described in his unique, highly descriptive style of writing, Peyton could hear the humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream. Most human beings are incapable of hearing a gnat fly and roam about, for its size and muted humming is no louder than a pin dropped on a rug. He could hear the flapping of the dragonflies wings and the strokes of the water spiders as they ventured through the stream. He described all these lucid sounds as audible music. Peytons hearing was remarkably and quixotically amplified beyond any human beings capability. The way Bierce described Peytons super natural powers, so to say was so detailed and full of imagery. As Peyton once again emerged to the top of the stream the soldiers or in Peytons point of view, monsters, were all aimed directly at him ready to shoot on command. As the commander ordered his men to fire Peyton dove deep into the stream and was shot between his collarbone and neck, which he so simply pulled right out with no pain or blood. Bierce describes how Peyton thought with the rapidity of lightening. These are yet more super natural, unreal descriptions of the visions and superhero like qualities. Bierce explains Peytons adventure of escape and idealistic traits in such a believable way that if it wasnt so exaggerated it could very well be mistaken as reality. As Peyton was being hanged the idealistic events began to occur. Bierce described through the nearly the whole story how Peyton experiences super natural powers such as, amplified sight, hearing, the ability to remove a bullet with such ease that he simply snatches it right out, and highly sensitive touch. Bierce told of how he escaped through his five senses being recorded in a way that no man would ever perceive. As the story ends and Peyton is still hanging high above the river, with a noose around his neck, idealism once again fades into reality.