To have a whale of a time
B. MADHU GOPAL
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To get to know more about whales, visit the Department of Zoology of the Andhra University.
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MAMMOTH OF THE SEA: The skull of a Baleen whale. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
The very mention of the word "whale" evokes awe both among children and adults. This is because of its gigantic size. A first-time visitor to the Zoology Department of the Andhra University will be puzzled to see two long skeletal structures at the entrance to the first floor of the old building. Of the two, one belongs to a baby whale about 27 feet in length and the other to a full-grown whale about 80 feet long.
On the other side is a "skeletal arch," the vertebral column of the whale, which has been twisted, and fits like a cap in between the pillars of the old building.
The vertebral column Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
The 80 feet long Baleen Whale (Balaenoptera) was found stranded on the Bapatla coast in West Godavari district in 1949 and the baby whale was beached on the Kakinada coast in 1960. They were subsequently handed over to the university, and the skeletons are kept at the Zoology Department ever since.
``The whale skeletons were brought to Andhra University for preservation. They belong to a full-grown Fin Whale and a Fin Whale calf. Fin Whales are the second largest whales, next only to the Blue Whales which can reach up to a length of 34 metres, i.e., about the height of a 10-storeyed building,'' says Dr. Bharata Lakshmi of the Department.
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Some interesting facts
The Blue Whales are the biggest animals that ever lived on the earth. They are bigger than any of the dinosaurs that had once inhabited the earth.
The Blue Whale can grow up to 34 m (about 110 feet), i.e., about the height of a 10-storeyed building. They eat about four tons of small fish every day.
The smallest whale is the Dwarf Sperm Whale that reaches up to 8.5 feet long.
The Blue Whales are the loudest animals on earth. The sounds they make can reach levels up to 188 decibels. Their whistling sound can be heard hundreds of miles away.
The Blue Whale is louder than a jet, which reaches only 140 decibels!
The fastest whales are the Orcas and Pilot Whales that can swim at speeds of 48 kmph in order to catch their prey.
The deadliest whale is the Killer Whale or Orcas that hunts and swallows hundreds of pounds of fish, sea birds and marine mammal including other whales. They move in groups.
The deepest diver among whales is the Sperm Whale that goes as deep as 10,500 feet below the sea. The dives last for about 40 minutes with subsequent rests at the surface for at least 10 minutes.
Male Humpbacks sing the most complex songs and are the noisiest whales.
The Sperm Whale has the biggest brain. It weighs up to 9 kg.
The Gray Whales are the longest migratory mammals.
They migrate from the Arctic Ocean (north west of Alaska) to the Baja Peninsula off Mexico and back each year.
They travel a distance of about 20,000 km. each year.
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