the.com/whales
the ocean's biggest hearts, sung in a language we still can't fully decode
means Whales are large, air-breathing marine mammals that live entirely in water, ranging from the immense blue whale to smaller toothed species, and are known for their long migrations and complex vocalizations.
from From Old English 'hwæl,' a word for whale and large sea creatures generally, with cousins across the Germanic languages — Old Norse 'hvalr,' German 'Wal.' Some have linked the deeper root to a Proto-Indo-European term possibly tied to 'fish' or 'sea creature,' but that connection stays speculative. The same Old English source also gave us 'walrus,' which travelled a tangled route through Dutch as a kind of 'whale-horse.'
- heart size
- A blue whale's heart weighs as much as a car
- song range
- Whale calls travel thousands of miles underwater
- old timers
- Bowhead whales can live over 200 years
- baby weight
- A blue whale calf gains 200 pounds daily
- named clicks
- Sperm whales call each other by signature clicks
blue whale — largest animal ever to exist at 173 tons, found in all oceans
sperm whale — deepest diving cetacean reaching 7,380 feet, hunted by giant squid
humpback whale — longest migration of any mammal at 16,000 miles annually between poles
beluga whale — only cetacean that can turn its head 90 degrees, arctic resident