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cetacean: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As Cetacea

Photos and Videos

Illustration showing various cetaceans, including baleen whales like the blue whale, fin whale, humpback whale, gray whale, sei whale, northern right whale, and bowhead whale, as well as toothed whales such as the sperm whale, narwhal, beluga, Baird's beaked whale, killer whale, dolphins, and porpoises. Each species is labeled with its scientific name and typical or maximum length, with a size scale in the corner for reference.
Illustration of a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) with mottled gray skin, shown alongside silhouettes of a human swimmer and an elephant for scale, as well as measurement bars indicating 3 meters and 9 feet.
Illustration of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) showing its massive size, with a human swimmer and an elephant for scale. The whale is depicted in profile, emphasizing its long, streamlined body and distinctive blue-gray coloring. Text indicates the blue whale can reach 29.5 meters (97 feet) in length.
humpback whale
killer whale
Illustration of a bowhead whale, also known as the Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus), showing its large, dark body and distinctively arched mouth. A small human diver and an elephant are included for scale, emphasizing the whale's impressive length of up to 20 meters (66 feet). Measurement bars for 3 meters and 9 feet further illustrate its size.
Illustration of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) shown in profile, with a human swimmer and an elephant included for size comparison. Measurement bars indicate a whale length of 14 meters, or 46 feet.
Bottlenose dolphins
Illustration of a northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) showing its large, dark body with callosities on the head, accompanied by scale bars and outlines of a human swimmer and an elephant for size comparison.
whaling
A dolphin on a background of graph paper, with a blue line chart trending downwards and four types of fish surrounding it.
Know the different theories explaining why whales become beached onshore
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Related Topics and References

Topics

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Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews
American naturalist

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