Baleen whales
This reading profile brings together 4 source-linked articles that reference baleen whales.
Explore Fauna’s source-checked field guides and research articles covering baleen whales, or search the species catalog below for individual species profiles.Source-linked reading
- Field guideHow whale songs travelA singing whale sets seawater particles oscillating, launching sound that spreads, bends, reflects, and weakens. Low-frequency components can travel especially well, yet no song has one fixed range: the ocean changes the signal, and a listener must still detect it above the background.
- Field guideHow dolphins sleep with half their brainDuring unihemispheric sleep, strong slow waves occupy one cerebral hemisphere while the other remains in a more wake-like state. The sides alternate over time; this is neither total wakefulness nor a neat division in which exactly half of every brain system switches off.
- Field guideHow close is too close to wildlife?Viewing distances vary by jurisdiction, species, activity, season, and site. Some are enforceable rules; others are official guidance. Check the place-specific requirement and back away whenever wildlife responds to you.
- Field guideWhale watching without disturbanceWhales concentrate along predictable migration routes, which makes seasonal watching reliable—and makes disturbance easy if crowds press too close. Watching well means keeping legal distances, letting the animals control the encounter, and learning the behavioral cues that signal when a whale wants space.