Adult: Sexually mature animal that is (or is
almost) fully grown.
Ambergris: A waxy, grayish substance formed in
the intestines of sperm whales and sometimes found floating at sea or
washed ashore. Used as a fixative in perfumes.
Amphipod: Shrimp-like crustacean that is a
food
source for some whales.
Anchor Patch: Variable gray-white anchor or
W-shaped patch on the chests of some small toothed whales.
Antarctic Convergence: Natural boundary in
the oceans around Antarctica, where cold waters from the south sink
below warmer waters from the north; lying roughly between 50 degrees
to 60 degrees S, it shifts slightly with the seasons.
Anterior: Situated at or near the head.
Baleen/baleen plate: Comb-like plates
hanging from the upper jaw of many large whales, used to strain small
prey from seawater (also known as "whalebone").
Baleen Whale: Suborder of whales with
baleen plates instead of teeth; scientific term Mysticeti, from Greek
mystax, meaning "mustache," and cetus, meaning "whale".
Beach-Rubbing: Rubbing the body on stones
in shallow water near the shore.
Beak: Forward-projecting jaws of a
cetacean (also known as "snout").
Benthic: Relating to the bottom of the
sea.
Biota: The animal and plant life of a region
considered as a total ecological entity.
Blaze: Light streaking of color, usually
starting below the dorsal fin and pointing up into the cape.
Blow: Cloud of moisture-laden air exhaled
by cetaceans (also known as "spout"); may be used to describe the act
of breathing.
Blowhole: Nostril(s) on the top of the
head.
Blubber: Insulating layer of fat beneath
the skin of most marine mammals.
Bow-Riding: Riding on the pressure wave in
front of a ship or large whale.
Breaching: Act of leaping completely out
of the water (or almost completely) and landing back with a splash.
Bull: Adult male whale.
Calf: Baby cetacean that is still being
nursed by its mother.
Callosities: Fleshy wart-like growths from
skin of some
whales.
Callosity: Area of roughened skin or horny
growth on the head of a right whale.
Cape: Darker region on the back of many
cetaceans around the dorsal fin.
Cetacean: Marine mammal belonging to the
order Cetacea, which includes all whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
Chevron: V-shaped stripes.
Circumpolar: Ranging around either pole.
Coastal: Adjacent to ocean shores.
Continental Shelf: Area of sea floor
adjacent to a continent, sloping gently to a depth of about 655 feet
(200 m); beyond the shelf edge, the sea floor drops steeply (via the
continental slope) to the ocean bottom.
Copepod: Small crustacean in the class
Copepoda.
Cow: Adult female whale.
Depleted Status: Species whose numbers are
below
its optimal sustainable population level.
Dimorphism: Two different forms of traits.
Sexual dimorphism: traits differ between sexes.
Dive pattern: Typical behavior and timing of a
whale's blow and dives.
Dolphin: Relatively small cetacean in any
of several different families, with conical-shaped teeth and
(usually) a falcate dorsal fin; as a general term, may be used
interchangeably with "porpoise".
Dorsal: Toward the upper side.
Dorsal fin: Raised structure on the back of
most cetaceans.
Dorsal Ridge: Hump or ridge that replaces
a dorsal fin in some cetaceans.
Echolocation: System used by many
cetaceans to orientate, navigate, and find food by sending out sounds
and interpreting the returning echoes.
Endangered Status: Species in danger of
extinction in all or significant portion of its range, as defined by the
Endangered Species Act.
Euphausiid: Small shrimp-like crustacean in
the
order Euphausiacea. Also called krill.
Falcate: Sickle-shaped and curved
backward.
Flipper: Paddle-shaped front limb of a
cetacean (sometimes known as "pectoral fin").
Flipper-Slapping: Raising a flipper out of the
water and slapping it onto the surface.
Flukes: Horizontally flattened tail of
cetaceans (containing no bone).
Fluking: Act of raising the flukes into
the air upon diving.
Gestation: The carrying of young in the uterus
until birth.
Gregarious: Social.
Gum Teeth: Horny protuberances on the gums
of Dall's Porpoise, forming a tough ridge between the real teeth.
Herd: Coordinated group of cetaceans; term
often used in connection with larger baleen whales.
Juvenile: Young cetacean that is no longer
being nursed by its mother but is not yet sexually mature.
Keel: Distinctive bulge on the tail stock
near the flukes; it can be on the upper side, underside, or both.
Krill: Small, shrimp-like crustaceans that
form the major food of many baleen whales. There are more than 80
species.
Lactation: Production of milk by female;
duration
of suckling.
Lobtailing: Forceful slapping of the
flukes against the water while most of the animal lies just under the
surface. Also known as "tail-slapping".
Locally Common: Uncommon or absent over
most of range, but relatively common in one or more specific
localities.
Logging: Lying still at or near the
surface.
Melon: Bulbous forehead of many toothed
whales, dolphins, and porpoises; believed to be used to focus sounds
for echolocation.
Migration: Regular journeys of animals
between one region and another, usually associated with seasonal
climatic changes or breeding and feeding cycles.
Mysticeti: See
Baleen Whale.
Neritic: Pertaining to the near-shore,
shallow-water zone of a sea over the continental shelf.
Oceanic: Anywhere in the ocean beyond the
edge of the continental shelf, usually where the water is deeper than
655 ft (200m).
Odontoceti: See Toothed Whale.
Pack Ice: Mass of floating pieces of ice
driven together to form a solid layer.
Pantropical: Occurring globally between the
tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Parasite: Organism that benefits from
another organisms while harming it.
Pectoral Fin: See Flipper.
Peduncle-Slapping: Act of throwing the
rear portion of the body out of the water and slapping it sideways
onto the surface, or on top of another whale (also known as
"tail-breaching").
Pelagic: Living in the upper waters of the
open sea far from land.
Permanent Ice: Core areas of ice around
both poles; this ice does not melt, but is surrounded by outer zones
of ice that form each autumn and disperse each spring.
Pod: Coordinated group of cetaceans; term
often used in connection with larger toothed whales.
Polar: Of the areas around the poles.
Polygynous: One male mates with more than one
female.
Population: Group of animals of the same
species that is isolated from other such groups and interbreeds.
Porpoise: Small cetacean in the family
Phocoenidae, with an indistinct beak or no beak, a stocky body, and
spade-shaped teeth; most have a triangular dorsal fin; as a general
term, may be used interchangeably with "dolphin".
Porpoising: Leaping out of the water while
moving forward at speed.
Posterior: Situated at or near the tail.
Purse-Seining: Fishing with a long net -
up to 1¼ miles (2 km) in length and 330 feet (100 m) deep - that is
set around a shoal of fish to form a circular wall, then gathered at
the bottom and drawn in to form a "purse".
Race: Interbreeding group of animals that
is genetically distinct from other such groups of the same species;
races are usually geographically isolated from one another.
Range: Natural distribution of a species,
including migratory pathways and seasonal haunts.
Resident: Stays in one area all year
round.
Rooster Tail: Spray of water formed when
certain small cetaceans surface at high speed; it is caused by a cone
of water coming off the animal's head.
Rorqual: Strictly speaking, a baleen whale
of the genus Balaenoptera; however, many experts also include
the Humpback Whale (genus Megaptera) in this group.
Rostrum: Upper jaw of the skull (may be
used to refer to the beak or snout).
Saddle Patch: Light patch behind the
dorsal fin on some cetaceans.
School: Coordinated group of cetaceans;
term often used for dolphins.
Seamount: Isolated undersea mountain
(usually a volcano) with the summit lying well below the ocean
surface.
Sexual maturity: Age at which animal is first
capable of breeding.
Snout: See Beak.
Sonar: System used by many cetaceans to
echolocate.
Sounding Dive: Deep (and usually longer)
dive after a series of shallow dives (also known as "terminal dive").
Species: Group of similar animals,
reproductively isolated from all other such groups and able to breed
and produce viable offspring.
Splashguard: Elevated area in front of the
blowholes of many large whales, which prevents water from pouring in
during respirations (also known as "blowhole crest").
Spout: See Blow.
Spyhopping: Raising the head vertically
out of water, then sinking below the surface without much splash.
Stranding: Act of a cetacean coming onto
land, either alive or dead; mass stranding involves a group of 3 or
more animals.
Submarine Canyon: Deep, steep-sided valley
in the continental shelf.
Subspecies: Recognizable subpopulations of
a species, typically with a distinct geographical distribution.
Tail Stock: Region from just behind the
dorsal fin to the flukes (also called "peduncle" or "caudal
peduncle").
Taxonomy: Classification of organisms
according
to how they are related to one another.
Temperate: Mid-latitude regions between
the tropics and the polar circles, with a mild, seasonally changing
climate; cold temperate regions are toward the poles, warm temperate
regions are nearer the tropics.
Threatened Status: Species likely to become
endangered within foreseeable future in all or significant part of its
range.
Throat Grooves: Grooves on the throat
present in some groups of whales.
Toothed Whale: Suborder of cetaceans with
teeth; scientific term Odontoceti, from the Greek
Transient: Always on the move rather than
staying in one area; usually refers to Killer Whales.
Tropical: Pertaining to low latitudes of
the world between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.
Tubercles: Circular bumps along the edges
of the flippers and dorsal fins of some cetaceans; also the knobs on a
Humpback Whale's head.
Ventral: Relating to the underside.
Ventral grooves: In certain baleen whales,
the furrows extending back from the chin.
Vestigial: Pertaining to part of an animal
that is in the process of being evolutionarily lost and is small,
imperfectly formed, and serves no function.
Wake-Riding: Swimming in the frothy wake
of a boat or ship.
West-Wind Drift: Principal circumpolar
current around Antarctica, flowing in an easterly direction.
Whale: General name applied to any large
cetacean and a specific name applied to certain smaller ones.
Whalebone: See Baleen/baleen plate.
Whale Lice: Small, crablike parasites that
live on some species of whale.
Whaling: The intentional hunting and
killing of whales for their meat, blubber, baleen, and other products.
Zooplankton: Minute animals adrift in water
column, including early life stages of fish and invertebrates.
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