Which whales have teeth

Yes, we are open! Ample space for social distancing. CDC Covid protocols in place. Outdoor fresh air activity. The short answer to this question is no; not all whales have teeth. There are actually two different suborders of whales that are distinguished by their presence or lacking presence of teeth: Baleen whales and toothed whales.

Baleen whales and toothed whales are very different on multiple levels including their species size, blowholes and biology, how they feed, and more. We will walk through the main differences between Baleen whales and Toothed whales to give you an idea of their overall differences.

Baleen whales have species, whereas toothed whales have around species. The reason why Toothed whales have so many more species is because they also include dolphins and porpoises as well.

Below are the different types of whales in each classification. Toothed whales are obviously named for their presence of teeth.

The Toothed whale with the biggest full set of teeth is the sperm whale who has around 40 to 52 cone-shaped teeth, that are inches in length. Although all toothed whales have teeth — the number, size and position of their teeth varies from species to species. When a humpback whale is underwater, it keeps its blowholes closed.

Once it reaches the surface, the holes open, and the humpback takes a breath. Then it closes its blowholes and heads back under the surface. How often a whale surfaces to breathe can vary depending on the type of whale. The largest blue whale recorded weighed more than , kilograms, heavier than most dinosaurs. Echolocation is just what it sounds like, using an echo or sound waves to locate things. Toothed whales make sounds that travel through the water.

These sound waves bounce off objects in their path and return to the whale. For instance one groups of toothed whales may surround their prey and herd it into a small ball while another whale may swim through the ball and pick off the helpless fish. Another method that is used by toothed whales is to force their prey into a corner or near shallow waters where it cannot dive or escape which makes capturing their prey much easier.

Species such as the killer whale killer whales are dolphins have been observed hunting sharks. One group of killer whales will distract the shark while another killer whale sneaks up from behind or beneath the shark to flip it over and immobilize it so that they can successfully attack it.

They have also been observed using distractions to separate one marine mammals from its group or pod so that they can make an easy meal out of their prey and are even known to leap onto icebergs in an attempt to capture seals or sea lions. The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales and its hunting methods are in a category of its own.

These large animals are known for consuming large squid and can dive up to 3, ft. At these depths it has been difficult for researchers to obtain information on how these marine mammals hunt and what techniques they use to capture their prey. Note : While toothed whales are known to frequently hunt in groups not all species will hunt together or in large pods.

When a toothed whale locates a group or swarm of potential prey it may signal to other pod members that it has found a source of food. Signaling may include leaping out of the water or creating a series of high-pitched sounds to alert other toothed whales of their finding.