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Watching Baleens

Baleen whales derive their name from the body part used to catch their prey. Instead of having teeth, two rows of baleen plates hang down from inside the upper jaw. Made of a protein substance similar to human fingernails, the plates are smooth on one side and fringed on the other. During feeding season, most baleen species inhabit shallow or surface waters where their diet, chiefly comprised of krill, other crustaceans and small fish, are most plentiful. When baleens were commercially viable, their choice of feeding grounds made them easy to kill and today make them a popular sight on Antarctica tours and elsewhere. Most baleens feed during the summer in cool, marine waters and live off their blubber during the winter. Some migrate thousands of miles to reach warmer waters in which to breed and give birth, and others, those that inhabit more temperate waters, remain in like-conditions year-round.

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Watching Baleens

Two distinct families of baleens inhabit the waters visited by travelers on South America tours. Largest but longer, narrower and lighter are the rorquals. In order of size, they are the blue, fin, sei, Bryde’s whale, humpback and Antarctic (or southern) minke. Lucky for whale watchers, rorquals inhabit mostly coastal waters when they migrate. The dimensions of the rorquals allow them to move faster than other whale species and to migrate long distances. It is also true that these whales are Leviathan in most every way. The humpback’s heart weighs over 400 pounds; the blue whale’s penis measures three feet.

Rorquals have a dorsal fin but not necessarily in proportion to their size and a varying number of long pleats in their throats called ventral grooves that expand and contract as they swallow. The ventral grooves allow rorquals to take in and hold an enormous amount of water as they feed and help push the water back out, while the prey is prevented from escaping by their baleens plates. To rid its throat of the water, the animal presses its tongue against the roof of its mouth. This habit makes it easy for visitors on whale watching tours to Ecuador and other destinations to view these species feeding near the surface. Even the smallest baleens consume at least one ton of food each day. There can be no better demonstration of why we must protect populations of miniscule marine species than to learn about whales and to watch them feed. The ventral grooves also help rorquals to produce sounds used to communicate and navigate.

The other type of baleen that visitors on whale watching Argentina tours are likely to see is the southern right whale. Right whales have no ventral grooves or dorsal fin, and their baleens are considerably longer than those of the rorquals. These whales keep their jaws open as they swim, taking in prey as they skim the water surface. Sei whales feed in this same fashion even though they have ventral grooves.

In all baleen species, the female is a bit larger than the male and gives birth to a single calf, never more frequently than every other year. The females travel in pods with their offspring, associating with males only when feeding or in temporary groups that disband after mating.

Scanning the horizon, visitors on whale watching tours to Chile and other destinations can spot baleens at great distances by their blow, the spray expelled when whales exhale. Whales are said to have a bushy blow if its direction is somewhat horizontal and a vertical blow if it shoots straight up like a geyser. On travel to Costa Rica or on Antarctica tours, witnessing a breaching whale is a memorable sight that helps whale watchers to identify the species. Some, such as humpbacks and fins, breach more energetically than others. At close range, whale watchers may be able to identify a rorqual by the prominence of its dorsal fin. A baleen species may also be identified by the size and shape of its head as well as from the tiny sea creatures that make their home on the baleens, uninvited, including certain barnacles and whale lice.

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