Whale Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of what
order?
A: Cetacea.
The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more
often it excludes what?
A: Dolphins and porpoises
Dolphins and Porpoises belong to the suborder Odontoceti
(toothed whales) which includes what other whales?
A: The sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale.
All cetaceans, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises,
are descendants of what?
A: Land-dwelling mammals of the artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulates).
These primitive cetaceans first took to the sea
approximately how long ago?
A: 50 million years.
They became what by 5–10 million years later?
A: Fully aquatic.
As with all mammals, whales breathe what?
A: Air.
Whales are warm-blooded, and nurse their young with
milk
from where?
A: Mammary glands.
Whales also have body what?
A: Hair.
Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat called what?
A: Blubber.
What is blubber for?
A: It stores energy and insulates the body.
Whales have a spinal column, a vestigial pelvic
bone, and
a four-chambered what?
A: Heart.
Whales breathe via what?
A: Blowholes.
Baleen whales have two blowholes and toothed whales have
how many?
A: One.
These are located on the top of the head, allowing the
animal to remain almost completely what while breathing?
A: Submerged.
Toothed whales, such as the sperm whale, possess
teeth with
what type of cells overlying dentine cells?
A: Cementum.
Instead of teeth, what do baleen whales have?
A: A row of baleen plates on the upper side of their jaws that resemble the
teeth of a comb.
The whale ear has specific adaptations to the what?
A: Marine environment.
Whales receive sound through the throat, from which it
passes through a low-impedance fat-filled cavity to where?
A: To the inner ear.
The whale ear is acoustically isolated from the skull by
air-filled sinus pockets, which allow for what?
A: Greater directional hearing underwater.
Males are called 'bulls', females, 'cows' and all newborns
are called what?
A: Calves.
Most species do not maintain fixed what?
A: Reproductive partnerships.
Females have several what each season?
A: Mates.
How many calves does the female usually deliver?
A: A single calf, which is birthed tail-first to minimize the risk of drowning.
How do whale cows nurse?
A: By squirting milk into the mouths of their young.
This milk is so rich in fat that it has the consistency of
what?
A: Toothpaste.
In many species, nursing continues for how long?
A: More than a year and is associated with a strong bond between mother and
calf.
Reproductive maturity typically occurs at how many years
after birth?
A: Seven to ten years.
Whales are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and
even what?
A: Grieve.
Unlike most animals, whales are conscious what?
A: Breathers.
All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become
unconscious for long because of what?
A: They may drown.
While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited,
toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to sleep with one side of
their what at a time?
A: Brain.
Many whales exhibit behaviors that expose large parts of
their bodies to the air, such as what?
A: Breaching and tail slapping.
Sounding is a term used for whales doing what?
A: Diving.
R.M. Nowak of Johns Hopkins University estimated that
humpback whales may live as long as how many years?
A: 77.
Some species, such as the humpback whale, communicate using
what?
A: Melodic sounds, known as whale song.
Captive whales occasionally have been known to mimic what?
A: Human speech.
Whales are major consumers of what?
A: Fish and oceanic invertebrates.
Whales act as reservoirs of nutrients, such as what?
A: Iron and nitrogen.
Whale detritus provides energy and habitat for what?
A: Deep sea organisms.
Toothed whales eat what?
A: Fish and squid, which they hunt by the use of echolocation.
Killer whales sometimes eat other marine mammals, including
what?
A: Whales.
Baleen whales, such as humpbacks and blues, mainly eat
what?
A: Krill when feeding in the higher latitudes (such as the Southern Ocean).
Whales defecate at the
oceans surface and this excrement is
important for what?
A: Fisheries because it is rich in iron and nitrogen.
The whale feces are liquid and instead of sinking, they
stay at the surface where what feed off it?
A: Phytoplankton.
Upon death, whale carcasses fall to the deep ocean and
provide a substantial habitat for what?
A: Marine creatures.