Shocking "whale"! Even seabirds can't be swallowed, what about the "whale swallowing"...

The "guest" we are interviewing today is the whole plastination specimen of Balaenoptera acutorostrata, which is located in the Marine Biology Genealogy Exhibition Area of ​​Today's Ocean Exhibition Hall of our museum. The specimen comes from the Yellow Sea of ​​China and is 6.2 meters long.

The specimen clearly shows the audience the visceral structure, skeletal structure, muscle texture and snout characteristics of the minke whale, and has extremely high scientific research display value and collection value.

The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), also known as the minke whale, is the smallest and most numerous of the Balaenopteridae, in the order Cetacea. It is also the most familiar small whale. The minke whale is also called the spear whale or the pointed-headed whale because of its narrow and pointed snout. It has a small, slightly triangular head, with a lower jaw that extends beyond the upper jaw, thin laryngeal folds of 50-70, and only one longitudinal ridge in the center of the head, which is one of the most obvious external features of this whale.

The dorsal fin is located at the back 1/3 of the body, in a sickle shape, and is the tallest among baleen whales; the pectoral fins are small and slender, with sharp ends, about 1/8 of the body length; the caudal fin is wide, light gray, blue-black or white, with a small concave in the center. The back of the small baleen whale is black or brown, with a light herringbone pattern behind the head, a white belly, dark pectoral fins, and yellow-white baleen plates, with 230-260 on each side. Depending on the tribe, the body length varies from 5.8 to 10.2 meters, and the weight varies from 2 to 4.8 tons.

The minke whale is widely distributed in the world's oceans, and its activity range is all over my country's sea areas. It has been found in Haiyang Island in Liaoning Province and Dalian in the Yellow Sea, in Shedao in the Bohai Sea, in Chongming Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the East China Sea, in Zhoushan and Lisi Island in Zhejiang Province, in Putian in Fujian Province, and in Daya Bay in Guangdong Province.

What do pygmy whales eat in the sea?

In the North Pacific, they feed on krill, copepods and herrings. In the northern Yellow Sea, they mainly feed on sand eel and small yellow croaker. The stomach of baleen whales is formed into four chambers, which is similar to the stomach of ruminants (such as cattle and sheep). Based on the structure of the cecum and stomach of baleen whales, experts speculate that the ancestors of baleen whales may be herbivorous mammals in ancient times.

How do minke whales hunt prey in the ocean ?

There are three ways for baleen whales to hunt. The first is to suck many krill together with seawater into their mouths, then close their mouths, filter out the seawater from between the baleen plates, and then send the krill into their digesters. Baleen whales can eat more than 2,000 kilograms of krill in one meal; the second is to feed in a bombarding manner, flicking the tail forward to drive the krill towards the enlarged mouth. This method is only applicable when the krill are particularly dense; the third is to swim upward in a spiral from a depth of 15 meters, spitting out many bubbles of varying sizes, so that the first protruding bubble and the last spitted bubble rise to the water surface at the same time, forming a cylindrical or tubular bubble net, tightly surrounding the prey.

How do minke whales breathe in the ocean?

Marine mammals breathe with lungs. The nostrils (bloom holes) of the minke whale are located on the top of the head and lead vertically to the lungs. There are valves on the edges of the blowholes. When they surface to breathe, the valves open automatically; when they dive to the bottom of the sea, the valves close automatically to prevent them from choking on water.

Will a pygmy whale choke if it drinks seawater ?

Compared with humans, the kidney function of the minke whale is extremely powerful. Its kidney is a compound kidney, composed of multiple independent renal lobules, which is actually a complex of multiple kidneys. Each renal lobule will independently perform the function of the kidney. The minke whale completely relies on this super kidney function to desalinate seawater and excrete it in the form of urine, which allows the whale to live in the seawater without being choked to death.

How do pygmy whales reproduce?

Like humans, minke whales are viviparous, with a gestation period of generally 10 months. They give birth in the northern Yellow Sea in June and July every year. Newborn calves are 2.4-2.8 meters long and weigh about 350 kilograms. The lactation period is 3-6 months, and the lifespan is less than 50 years.

How long and how deep can a whale dive on one breath?

Whales can usually stay underwater for 10-45 minutes after taking a breath at the surface. If they don't float to the surface in time to breathe, they will drown. The maximum diving depth and breath-holding time of different whales are different.

Does a whale's blowhole contain water from its lungs?

No, the whale's blowhole is the whale's rapid expulsion of gas from its lungs through its blowhole. Because whales are warm-blooded animals with high body temperature, the temperature inside their lungs is higher than the ambient temperature. The exhaled air meets the cold and forms spray, which mixes with seawater to form a blowhole.