Whales, dolphins, and porpoises all belong to the same taxonomic order called cetaceans.  Cetaceans are truly remarkable animals!  They are mammals which means they are warm-blooded, they have at least a few hairs on their bodies, and they nourish their young with milk. Cetaceans spend their whole lives in water and some live in family groups called "pods."    Cetaceans are known for their seemingly playful behavior including "breaching," "spyhopping," or "tail slapping."

How many kinds of cetaceans are there?

Lots!  Over 70 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises populate the world's oceans.  To study these cetaceans we categorize the species into two main groups: baleen whales (or, mysticetes) and toothed whales (or, odontocetes).

What are baleen whales like?

Baleen whales are very large, have paired blow holes, and characteristic baleen plates that they use to filter food.

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What are Toothed whales like?

Toothed whales have (surprise) 1 to 65 teeth depending on the species and tend to be smaller than baleen whales.  Toothed whales have a single blowhole and do not have baleen plates. Would you like to learn more about toothed whales?

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What should I know about baleen whales?

Baleen whales are the largest animals on earth, yet they feed on some of the smallest animals in the ocean. There are 12 baleen whale species divided into 4 families:  right, pygmy right, gray and rorqual whales.

What are taxonomy of this family is rather confusing, but currently there are three species of right whales: the Northern right whale, Southern right whale, and  bowhead whale.  The pygmy right is in a separate family although it shares similar characteristics to right whales.

What are Gray whales have their own taxonomic family, genus, and species. They are the most coastal of the baleen whales and are often found within a few miles of shore.  Each year gray whales migrate between their summer feeding grounds in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas to their winter breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico.  This is one of the longest migrations by a mammal species.

Gray whales are gray in color and their skin is encrusted with barnacles and a unique species of small crustaceans known as "whale lice."  They have 2-3 short throat grooves and instead of a dorsal fin they have a low dorsal hump followed by 6-12 "knuckles" or bumps.  Whalers used to call gray whales "devil fish" because of their aggressive response to being hunted.

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What are humpback whale, fin whale, Bryde's whale, blue whale, northern minke, antarctic minke, Eden's ("small-type") whale, and sei whale.

A rorqual whale's throat grooves.

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