IS IT A DOLPHIN OR A WHALE?

*posted by PAWS from EII

nung una,akala ko,dolphin..tas melon headed whale pala kaya akala ko whale..

14 February 2009

News Release

IS IT A DOLPHIN OR A WHALE?

The stranding of some 300 melon headed whales last Tuesday in Bataan is a rare phenomenon and was reported all over the world.

The eventual telling and re-telling of the phenomenon have many, including the media, confused. Do they call the animal a dolphin or a whale? Short answer: Taxonomically, melon-headed whales are of the Sub-Order Odontoceti, or the ‘toothed whales’. They are further classified under the Family Delphinidae or ‘dolphins’.

Melon headed whales, (scientific name Peponocephala electra) belong to the Family Delphinidae (from the Latin word ‘delphīnus’). Essentially, all marine mammals that have single blowholes, possess teeth, distinct dorsal fins, and snouts (or “beaks”) all belong to the Family Delphinidae. While “beaks” in false killer whales, melon headed whales and some other animals under this family maybe subtle to absent, they are still classified under this Family due to the other characteristics that are distinctly present in them.

About 31 species of dolphins belong to the Family Delphinidae, including orcas, false killer whales, melon-headed whales, pilot whales, and bottlenose dolphins. So the orcas, or better known as killer whales, are really the world’s largest dolphins.

Technically speaking, whales are larger marine animals than the dolphin family. ‘Large’ is not defined by scientists. There are two types of whales—the toothed whales (Sub-Order Odontoceti) and the baleen whales (Sub-Order Mysticeti), which are also called the ‘great whales’.

Aside from the fact that toothed whales have teeth and the great whales have baleen (plates of whalebone along the upper jaw for filtering plankton from the water), the toothed whales only have a single blowhole and the great whales have two.

Getting back to the melon-headed whale: You can call the animal a ‘toothed whale’ but if you want to be more specific, you can call it a ‘dolphin’.

One main issue for many dolphins is their capture for marine parks. One way to protect these creatures is to NOT to patronize any dolphin shows as this deprive these intelligent creatures of their freedom in the open sea and takes them away from their families. All marine animals deserve our care, respect and protection. ##########

Contact: Trixie Concepcion, 09186293648

Sources for the above information:

The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins, 1983

Brother Whale, A Pacific Whale-watcher’s Log, Roy Nickerson, 1977

Online Encyclopedias

Trixie Concepcion
Regional Director
Earth Island Institute

"Such arrogance to speak of owning the land...How can you own that which will outlive you? Only the race owns the land because only the race lives forever."--Macli-ing Dulag