Residents
of Breezy Point, NY are currently waiting with bated breath to see if
the tide that brought in an endangered Finback Whale will raise enough
to return the whale to the sea. The whale was first spotted on Wednesday
morning. As of this posting, the whale is alive but the prognosis is
not good.
The Finback (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest whale, weighing in at up to 64 metric
tons and growing up to 21 meters. Interestingly, the closest known
living relative to whales is the hippopotamus! Hippos and whales evolved
from a common ancestor, however, despite being large and aquatic,
hippos maintained their hind limbs while whales lost theirs around 43
MYA.
Finback whales belong to the family Balaenopteridae. As a
filter feeder, the Finback has baleen in its mouth made of bony
structures that capture krill and other small fish as it glides through
the water with its mouth open. Although it is a large whale, it is
capable of short bursts of speed and can reach up to 12 knots (roughly
6.17 m/s). Despite living in all of the oceans of the world, this whale
is on the endangered species list due to overhunting. Only around 7,000
are estimated to be alive today, down from the estimated 30,000 - 40,000
of the pre-hunting days.
During the fall, these whales
migrate to equatorial waters and fast throughout the winter. It is
unknown what brought this stranded whale north to the waters of the
coast of New York.
http://
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
Photo source: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
Residents
of Breezy Point, NY are currently waiting with bated breath to see if
the tide that brought in an endangered Finback Whale will raise enough
to return the whale to the sea. The whale was first spotted on Wednesday
morning. As of this posting, the whale is alive but the prognosis is
not good.
The Finback (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest whale, weighing in at up to 64 metric tons and growing up to 21 meters. Interestingly, the closest known living relative to whales is the hippopotamus! Hippos and whales evolved from a common ancestor, however, despite being large and aquatic, hippos maintained their hind limbs while whales lost theirs around 43 MYA.
Finback whales belong to the family Balaenopteridae. As a filter feeder, the Finback has baleen in its mouth made of bony structures that capture krill and other small fish as it glides through the water with its mouth open. Although it is a large whale, it is capable of short bursts of speed and can reach up to 12 knots (roughly 6.17 m/s). Despite living in all of the oceans of the world, this whale is on the endangered species list due to overhunting. Only around 7,000 are estimated to be alive today, down from the estimated 30,000 - 40,000 of the pre-hunting days.
During the fall, these whales migrate to equatorial waters and fast throughout the winter. It is unknown what brought this stranded whale north to the waters of the coast of New York.
http://
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
Photo source: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
The Finback (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest whale, weighing in at up to 64 metric tons and growing up to 21 meters. Interestingly, the closest known living relative to whales is the hippopotamus! Hippos and whales evolved from a common ancestor, however, despite being large and aquatic, hippos maintained their hind limbs while whales lost theirs around 43 MYA.
Finback whales belong to the family Balaenopteridae. As a filter feeder, the Finback has baleen in its mouth made of bony structures that capture krill and other small fish as it glides through the water with its mouth open. Although it is a large whale, it is capable of short bursts of speed and can reach up to 12 knots (roughly 6.17 m/s). Despite living in all of the oceans of the world, this whale is on the endangered species list due to overhunting. Only around 7,000 are estimated to be alive today, down from the estimated 30,000 - 40,000 of the pre-hunting days.
During the fall, these whales migrate to equatorial waters and fast throughout the winter. It is unknown what brought this stranded whale north to the waters of the coast of New York.
http://
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/
Photo source: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
No comments:
Post a Comment