In short, anthropogenic sound is noise to baleen whales and it has the potential to negatively affect them. It can potentially hinder a baleen whale’s ability to hear and avoid ships, and chronically high levels of sound might elevate levels of stress hormones that affect a whale’s health and ability to reproduce. Anthropogenic sound can potentially affect a baleen whale’s hearing, change its behavior, and interfere with its ability to communicate, forage, and navigate. Baleen whales rely on sound to communicate, forage, and navigate the world’s oceans. These whales filter feed using baleen, which is a feathery, filter-like comb structure within the mouths of the whales. Baleen whales, otherwise called mysticete whales, are the largest animals on earth.
Because sound travels efficiently through water, sounds produced in the ocean can travel great distances and can be detected thousands of miles away from the source of the sound if the sound is of a sufficiently high level. A dramatic increase in the use of cargo ships for transporting commercial goods and a proliferation of recreational vessels have also contributed to an increase in ocean sound in many parts of the world. Human-made sound, or anthropogenic sound, is intentionally used to explore the ocean floor, to search for oil, in scientific research, in fisheries, and for military purposes (e.g. As far as the offspring, they can reach nine feet in length and 1000 pounds in weight, when they are born.įinally we leave this video for you, tabout this wonderful creature….Over the last century, humans have increasingly put sound into the ocean. They even feed up twice more, than they would usually do. The gestation period last 10 months, and the lactation of the offspring around 6 months. According to several investigations, the pregnant female whale increases her energies in the second half of the gestation period, since she has greater biological needs to dispose her body to the birth of another animal so big. They can start their reproductive cycles, since they are two years of age. These whales reach the sexual maturity very early, compared with other species of whales. The minke whales are mostly located in countries such as Australia, also in New Zealand, even in some parts of South Africa, and in some months of the year they can be seen off the coasts of South America. In relation to the above, the minke whales in summer time swim closer to the poles and when the winter comes, the most common is that they swim to warmer waters. Unlike other species of whales, these whales, don´t tend to migrate towards tropical areas.Īlthough several studies have demonstrated, that these whales usually stay in the same place for up to a year there are also references that they usually prefer not too warm waters. Minke Whales, are very easy to locate, since they are distributed in all seas and oceans of the world. It should be noted, that this species remains distant from the polar areas, although there are cases where they have been found in icy habitats. In general, their feeding has similarities to what other species consume, such as the blue whales Distribution In spite that minke whales usually swim in small groups of two or three individuals, this trend changes a little bit when they are in the areas where they feed.
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