The Green Planet We can Have

Whales

I have never read a whale book before, so I'll be using sites to write this chapter. I know some wattpadders who love whales and dolphins (specifically @QueenSwirly and @stop_global_warming), so I feel pressured (just kidding) to make this chapter good, or at least decent. Each section/paragraph(s) (not including this one) in this chapter will be about a different types of whale or whales in general. So lets begin with blue whales.

Blue whales: The blue whale is the biggest creature on earth though - like pandas - they only eat one food. For pandas it is bamboo. For blue whales the food is krill. Blue whales use a filter to eat the krill. The filter captures the krill, but removes the water from inside their mouth. Blue whales also live longer than most humans. Their lifespan is from 80-90 years.

But this book is about environmental problems, not just whales. (But whales are cool). So, what are the threats to the blue whale? Unfortunately, there is many. The first one comes from vessels when they come and hit the blue whale while traveling through the seas. The vessels might kill or injure the blue whale. The next problem comes from fishing gear. Fishing nets can trap and harm blue whales. Not to mention climate change (otherwise known as the infamous global warming) is warming up the seas as well as causing the sea levels to rise. Now, let's move from blue whales to Dwarf Sperm Whale. The biggest whale to the smallest!

Dwarf Sperm Whales: Dwarf Sperm Whales are, well, what else? Small! Thus the name. I'm sure that not many have heard of Dwarf Sperm whales, but while looking online, I found a .gov site that mentioned them. The link is at the end of this chapter, and it talks about all whales which unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to cover all of them in a chapter without readers eventually getting bored. Anyway. Moving back to Dwarf Sperm Whales.

They can shoot an inky black substance (cool, right?) that can help them escape from predators. They can shoot it to 3 gallons of liquid, and when they shoot it out the waters are ours them become murky, allowing them time to escape.

The Dwarf Sperm Whale's diet consists of crabs, squid, fish, octopus, and shrimp. They can dive 1,000 feet deep to search for food.

They live much less longer than blue whales, and their average life is around 22 years. Throughout their life, dwarf sperm whales live in groups of 6 to 16 individuals.

Unfortunately, blue sperm whales - like blue whales - get struck by vessels, experience temperature rise as well as a noisier ocean, and get caught in fishing nets. They also sometimes eat the marine debris and have trouble surviving with oil spills. Now, let's move on to orcas, otherwise known as the killer whale.

Killer whales (orcas): Killer whales - otherwise known as orcas - are probably the most popular whale. Though the blue whale is very famous, I think that the orca would win in a popularity contest. After all, who wouldn't fall for this massive 32 foot long and intelligent black and white whale?

Orcas hunt with a pod which can consist with up to 20 members. The communicate in clicks and use strategy and tactics to catch their food. How similar orcas are to wolves! They both live in groups and are very social, and also have outstanding hunting tactics.

Orcas have a very long range on how long they live. Males can live from 30 to 60 years, and females from 50 to 90. How come females tend to live longer than males? The same is true for humans, but the difference is not as great.

Unfortunately, like all other whales, orcas are very much effected by humans. They are threatened the same way as the dwarf sperm whale, but with the additional threat of the amount of food declining do to habitat loss. Now, let's move onto a different whale: the bottlenose dolphin!

The bottlenose dolphin: The bottlenose dolphin lives from 40-60 years old. But, like orcas and humans, the females can outlive the whales. For the bottlenose dolphins, the difference could even be 60 years!

Bottlenose dolphins have the same diet as the dwarf sperm whale. To get their food, they hunt with other dolphins, for dolphins are very social.

Now, I'm pretty sure that you know what this next paragraph is about; how they are threatened by humans. The dolphins have to live with the same threats as orcas, except that they suffer from the additional: bio toxins and illegal harassment and feeding. (Yes, dolphins are harassed. At the bottom of this chapter I'll give you the link to the site if you want to look more into that. Now, let's move onto... the humpback whale!

Humpback whale: The humpback whale can live from 80 to 90 years. Wow! The humpback whale uses bubble feeding to eat krill, the main main option on their diet. Bubble feeding consists of trapping their prey using air bubbles (of all things!) so that they can eat their prey.

Humpback whales suffer from vessel strikes as well as entanglement from fishing nets and stress from being whale watched, resulting in a different behavior. Let's move onto the final whale the narwhal!

The Narwhal: The narwhal: the unicorn of the sea! Their long tusk at their top of their heads used to capture food is known as a 'unicorn horn.'

Narwhals are 13-18 feet long and can live up to 50 years. Their weight can span from around 1,700 pounds (771.107 kilograms. I googled that) to 3500 pounds (1587.573 kilograms. I googled that again).

Narwhals live in could places, therefore suffering from global warming, hunting, and the loss of attic ice.

Now, we know a lot about whales, but how are we to protect them? Below is a list of the biggest problems to a whale and the best way to help.

Fishing Nets: I'm not sure if a lot of people reading this fish. I don't. So how can we help the whales? We could eat less fish.

Global Warming: Quick question: What animal isn't suffering from global warming? None. Every animal has or will suffer from global warming. Global warming isn't something that you can realistically stop. And hoping about it stopping won't do anything. But you can help by planting trees, driving less, or investing in eco-friendly companies. The possibilities are endless! So do these things and help slow down global warming.

Thank you for reading this chapter! I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading. Please share this book to help spread the word on how you can help the earth. Also, don't forget to check out the amazing site I used learn about whales! Go to: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/whales#by-species to check it out and learn more about whales. Thank you for reading!

-save_the_earth5