Whales
This reading profile brings together 4 source-linked articles that reference whales.
Fauna does not yet have a full sourced identification profile for this name, so this page keeps the relevant reading together without inventing missing species detail.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 guideEstimating animal size from a distanceUse a reference in the same plane or a calibrated photogrammetric setup, measure defined landmarks, account for distance and perspective, repeat across suitable frames, and report a range rather than pretending a visual impression is exact.
- 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 marine mammals diveMarine mammals dive on one breath by carrying substantial oxygen in blood and muscle, adjusting heart rate and circulation, tolerating low oxygen, and managing gases as pressure rises. These responses are flexible and differ greatly between shallow and deep divers.