Dawson,+C


 * What is a Whale? **


 * [[image:http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sgifs/Spouting.GIF width="50" height="50" align="left"]] Whales are large, magnificent, intelligent, aquatic [|mammals]. They breathe air through blowhole(s) into lungs (unlike fish who breathe using gills). Whales have sleek, streamlined bodies that move easily through the water. They are the only mammals, other than manatees (seacows), that live their entire lives in the water, and the only mammals that have adapted to life in the open oceans. || [[image:http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sgifs/Spermwhale.GIF width="117" height="24"]]


 * Whales breathe air. They are NOT fish. They are mammals that spend their entire lives in the water.** ||

What do they eat? -Whales eat a great mixture of things in the ocean. Many whales feed on fish. Others feed on tiny plankton, like krill. Do the follow their food? -They ambush things like penguins, seals and small dolphins. They charge headlong at them and either bash into them to stun or kill them. How long can they hold their breath? -Anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours. =The whale is the top predator in the ocean. It eats animals, which makes them a carnivore.The whale eats marine mammals and seabirds. They also eat a variety of fish such as salmon, cod, flatfish, hake, herring, and smelt. They also eat other kinds of whales. They also eat seals, sea lions, walruses, and occasionally sea otters and penguins.= =  = =[]=
 * || Like all mammals: * Whales breathe air into lungs,
 * Whales have hair (although they have a lot less than land mammals, and have almost none as adults),
 * Whales are warm-blooded (they maintain a high body temperature),
 * Whales have mammary glands with which they nourish their young,
 * Whales have a four-chambered heart. ||
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