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see how we live
Wha lesand
dolphins
Orpheus
First published in 2009 by Orpheus Books Ltd.,6 Church Green, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX28 4AW
Copyright © 2009 Orpheus Books Ltd.
CCrreeaatteedd aanndd pprroodduucceedd bbyy Julia Bruce, Rachel Coombs, Nicholas Harris, Sarah Hartley, Katie Sexton and Erica Simms,
Orpheus Books Ltd.
TTeexxtt bbyy Olivia Brookes
IIlllluussttrraatteedd bbyy Ian Jackson (The Art Agency),Martin Camm and Betti Ferrero
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright
owner.
ISBN 1 905473 ** *
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in China.
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Contents
Whales and dolphins
Why do dolphins leap? 6
How do orcas hunt? 14
What do humpback whales eat? 20
Why does a sperm whale dive so deep? 26
What does a narwhal use its tusk for? 28
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are
related. We live in the water all the
time, but we are mammals—definitely not
fish. Here you can read you about our lives:
what we eat, how we hunt our prey, why we
have a habit of leaping out of the water, and
lots of other curious things about us!
5
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Why do dolphins leap?
We often leap high out of the water
when we swim. That’s because it’s
easier to move through air than water—so
we can save energy on long trips.
We dusky dolphins live in warm southern
seas. We often swim together in large
groups, called pods.
I move my
fluke (that’s my
tail) up and
down to drive
myself forward.
My back fin
keeps me steady in
the water. I use my
flippers to steer.
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Although I live in the water,
and have a smooth, hairless
skin, I am a mammal—just like
you. So, unlike fish, I have to come
to the water’s surface from time to
time to breathe air. I breathe
through the blowhole on the top of
my head.
It’s not quite the same as your
nose—I can’t smell anything at all!
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If one of us starts playing,the others will soon join
in. We can leap up to
four metres into the air
and do twists,
backflips and
somersaults.
When I slap my
tail on the
water, it means I
have found some fish
and I’m letting the
rest of my pod know.
I love to ride the waves in front of a boat.
I can swim much faster than you!
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Fish are one of our main
foods. When we find a
shoal of fish, we leap
around them and slam our
bodies against the water.
The loud noises we make
frighten the poor little
things. They crowd
together into a tight ball.
This makes it easier for us
to gobble them up!
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We orcas work together in small
groups to catch our supper.
When we find some tasty salmon, we
call to one another using clicking and
whistling sounds. We surround the fish
and herd them into a shallow cove so
they can’t escape. Now it’s time to eat!
How do orcas hunt?
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Orcas are some of the most dangerous
predators in the ocean. We will attack
anything: seals, sea lions, dolphins, birds, even
other large whales—but not humans.
You love to watch us jump out of the water.
After a tiring day, we like to relax by drifting
on the surface, gently nudging one another.
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What do humpbackwhales eat?
This is a krill. It’s like a
small shrimp, no more than
two centimetres long.
Iam one of the largest animals in the world.I can grow to more than 15 metres long
and weigh about the same as five buses.
Despite my great size, I feed mostly on tiny
krill. As you can imagine, I need to eat
millions of them to satisfy my great appetite ...
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Instead of teeth, I have rows of plateslined with bristles, hanging from the roof
of my mouth. These are called baleen.
When I come across some krill, I gulp
colossal mouthfuls, water and all.
The baleen is like a giant sieve. I force
the water out again, but the krill gets
stuck behind the bristles and stays put
inside my mouth. I scrape them off with my
mighty tongue. Yum!
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I love leaping into the air and crashing back
into the water on my back. This is called
breaching. Besides being a lot
of fun, it also helps
get rid of those
pesky barnacles
and lice that
like to attach
themselves to my
body.
See those grooves on
my underside? They
help my throat expand
when I’m feeding. And
what about those
flippers? They are the
largest of any whale.
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Once in a while,
I like to poke
my head up above
water and take a
good look around.
This is called
spy-hopping.
When I come to
the surface I
spout a cloud of water
vapour into the air
through the blowholes
on the top of my head.
This is how I dive back into the water.
Now you can see why I’m called a “humpback”.
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Why does a spermwhale dive so deep?
My favourite prey, giant squid, lives only
in deep waters, so I dive up to 3000
metres below the surface
to catch them.It’s often
a bit of a
struggle.
Those tentacles
can give my back
some nasty scratches. But
the journey—sometimes up
to two hours holding my
breath—is
usually worth it.
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What does a narwhaluse its tusk for?
My tusk is really an overgrown
tooth. It grows up to three metres
long. It’s got tiny nerves inside it which
help me to tell how cold or salty
the water is.
Ilive in freezing Arctic waters and my mainfood is cod. Shrimps, squid and octopus are
good to eat too. I can dive deep for my
supper, often plunging 1000 metres down.
The longer my tusk, the
more likely I am to attract
females. We males occasionally
like to do a spot of “tusking”—rubbing
our tusks together to keep them clean.
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