Concept in Definition ABC

Animals such as the dolphin, the whale, the porpoise or the killer whale are part of the cetaceans. They all share a series of characteristics: they live in the marine environment, they are vertebrate mammals, breathe through the lungs, are warm-blooded, and have a forked fin at the end of their Body.

During the first period of life, the young are fed on the mother's milk obtained from the mammary glands and when they are adults they feed on crustaceans, mollusks, small fish and plankton. In this way, cetaceans look like fish but are actually mammals.

The term cetacean comes from the Greek word ketus, which literally means sea monster

From an evolutionary point of view these animals were terrestrial, but 200 million years ago they began their adaptation to the aquatic environment. Regarding their habitat, they can be found in oceans, coasts and rivers, both in cold and warm waters.

The cetacean communication system

These aquatic mammals have an underdeveloped sense of smell and their eyes are adapted to see in and out of the

Water. Their hearing is extremely powerful and sophisticated, as they are capable of perceiving ultrasound.

They use two types of sounds: some intended for the location from food and to the detection of dangers and others oriented to the communication between the members of the same species. This communication system is known by the term echolocation. It consists of emitting all kinds of sounds through bursts or sound impulses. When these impulses return to the brain of the cetacean, it obtains precise information about its environment. Thus, the sound echo provides detailed information about potential prey or hazards.

Likewise, it has low frequency waves and thanks to them the groups of cetaceans can communicate in a way effective.

In the case of dolphins, hunting-related echolocation has the following phases:

1) the dolphin rises to the surface of the water and opens the blowhole so that the air,

2) when his lungs already have air, the nose swells and the phonic lips open and close to emit a vibration,

3) sound waves with different frequencies are formed,

4) These sound waves travel through the water and then bounce off objects or animals and

5) the waves return to the dolphin in the form of an echo, then they are perceived by the ear and finally interpreted by the brain.

Social and highly intelligent animals

Cetaceans are capable of organizing and coordinating for very diverse tasks: getting food, offering help before any threat, to take care of the young or to make group trips.

On synthesisThey are social animals and only adult males live in isolation during very specific periods.

Photos: Fotolia - Doug / Kuco

Themes in Cetaceans