WHALE ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY

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WHALE ANATOMY PHYSIOLOGY

• Presented by Kim Sandor
• Marine Mammals
• Keystone College

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SKELETAL SYSTEM

• Average 50 feet in length
• Skull forms more than 1/3 of the length

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SKELETAL SYSTEM
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SPINAL COLUMN

• Consists of 44 vertebrae
• Cervical Vertebrae
• Dorsal Vertebrae
• Terminal Vertebrae
• Spinal Cord is triangular in shape

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CHEST REGION FINS (skeletal)

• Ribs
• 11 to 13 per side
• 1-6 are directly attached to the sternum
• Sternum
• Scapula
• Humerus
• Radius
• Ulna

• Carpus
• 7 square bones
• Phalanges
• 5 bones

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TEETH

• Average of 40-56
• Each average about 3 in. long
• Cutting lengthwise reveals lines to estimate
  their age
• Used to catch crush prey/not to cut

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TEETH

• Baleen whales have sieve-like structures called
  Baleen instead of teeth

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JAW

• Considered weak
• Only moves in one plain

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DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
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DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

• Food directly to pharynx
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Mechanical
• Chemical
• Pyloric
• Duodenal Ampulla
• Pylorus

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ORGANS

• Liver
• Pancreas
• Anus
• Kidneys
• Many small kidneys
• Bladder

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RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

• Blowhole
• Voluntary
• Nasal Cavity
• Sphincter
• Larynx
• Trachea
• Lungs

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RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

• Renews 80 of its air in one breath
• Oxygen reserves in the blood muscles
• Hemoglobin
• Myoglobin
• Diving at great depths

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CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• Warm blooded
• Veins/Arteries
• Also used to conserve body heat
• Abundant with red blood cells
• Increases amount of oxygen carried

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HEART

• Heart rate about 60bpm at the surface
• Heart rate about 30bpm when diving
• Large whales it is a lot slower
• 10-30bpm

• After a lengthy time under water, the right half
  of the heart stops beating and restricts blood
  flow to the lungs to allow the left side of the
  heart to send the oxygenated blood to the brain

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THERMOREGULATION

• Thick layer of blubber just underneath the skin
• Insulation energy reserve
• Body temp. about 97.5 F
• Blubber composed of fat cells fibrous
  connective tissue about 3-4 in. thick
• Increased metabolic rate generates body heat

• When diving blood is shut off from the surface to
  decrease circulation to conserve body heat
• Warm water/Exercise may cause the need to release
  excess heat to the flippers, flukes, or fins
• Their reduced limb sizes and body shape help them
  conserve body heat because of the decreased
  amount of surface area exposed

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MUSCULAR SYSTEM

• Great amounts of myoglobin rich in oxygen
• Tail is main source of forward movement
• Dorsal Fin source for rolling or changing
  position in water
• Flukes are used for steering and to aid in
  stopping
• Main source for oxygen storage

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SKIN

• Epidermis
• Stratum granulosum
• Stratum lucidum
• Shed rapidly while swimming
• Mitotic division rate about 290X that of the
  human epidermis

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SENSES

• Sight
• Hearing/Echolocation
• Sends out a sound that echoes of the object to
  determine the distance, size, shape, texture, and
  speed of the object
• Send to the brain through the auditory nerve
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch
• vibrissae/stubble-like whiskers
• Magnetism

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WORKS CITED

• AARLUK. Killer Whales Breathing,Killer Whales
  Digestion, Thermoregulation, retrieved 4/11/11,
  http//www.aarluk.com
• Beale, Thomas. The Natural History Of The Sperm
  Whale, retrieved 4/6/11, http//mysite.du.edu/ttyl
  er/ploughboy/bealenew.htm
• Killer Whale Biology, retrieved, 4/6/11,
  http//www.orca.online.fr/kwhales.htm
• http//www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/kil
  ler-whale/adaptations.htm Retrieved 4/8/11
• http//library.thinkquest.org/1963/respiratory-sys
  tem.html Retrieved 4/8/11
• Whale Anatomy and Physiology. Whale Senses.
  http//www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/a
  natomy/index.shtml, retrieved 3/31/11.
• Killer Whale Biology. http//www.orca.online.fr.c
  ontents.htm, retrieved 3/31/11.
• Cetaceans. http//science.jrank.org/pages/1355/Ce
  taceans-Anatomy-physiology.html, retrieved
  3/31/11.