Buzz
Whales are undoubtedly among the most intriguing creatures on Earth. From featuring in the Book of Job in the Bible to their iconic role in Star Trek IV: The Journey Home, you'd think we'd know everything about these majestic ocean giants by now. Yet, with 78 species of whale roaming the seas, we continue to discover strange and fascinating facts about them all the time. For example…
10. Beluga Whales Have a Musical Side
While we can never be certain if beluga whales truly have an affinity for music, their reactions suggest a keen curiosity. They often show an intriguing level of engagement and at times even participate in synchronized movements.
In 2013, two artists set up an underwater sound system on a boat and sailed into the ocean to play an underwater symphony for the belugas. The whales seemed captivated, even joining in, demonstrating a level of appreciation for music and art that's rare among Earth's creatures.
Any skepticism about beluga whales enjoying music could likely be silenced by the video of a mariachi band playing for a captive beluga, who, despite the need for scientific objectivity, clearly appears to be enjoying the performance.
9. Bowhead Whales Can Live Over 200 Years
In 2007, scientists studying a deceased bowhead whale made an astonishing discovery. Embedded within its body was a weapon fragment that could be traced back to a patent filed in 1879. This finding indicated that the whale had survived a whaling attack over a century prior.
Scientists still can’t reach a consensus on the bowhead whale’s maximum lifespan. Most of them live between 60 and 90 years. However, research on the amino acids in their eyes suggests that the oldest known bowhead may have reached 211 years. Some researchers even believe these whales could potentially live longer. One thing is certain though: it's improbable that a human could live that long, even without an ancient harpoon lodged in their back.
8. Female Humpbacks Have Their Own Besties
For the past 16 years, the Mingan Island Cetacean Study group has been using photographic techniques to track humpback whales. Over time, they discovered something surprising: female humpbacks form lasting friendships with one another and reunite each year. These whales remember their friends, even across vast oceans and among other whale populations. This revelation defied previous assumptions, as scientists once believed humpbacks were generally antisocial.
When female humpbacks encounter their friends, they simply drift together, eating and socializing in harmony. These friendships appear to have benefits; females that maintain these bonds are healthier and tend to give birth to more calves each year. However, friendships between females and males (or even among males) are rare. For reasons that remain unexplained, only the females seem to prefer hanging out with each other.
7. The Blue Whale Is the Largest Animal to Ever Live on Earth
If you asked most people to name the largest animal that ever roamed the Earth, they'd probably mention an extinct giant like a mammoth or a dinosaur. But the largest creature to ever exist isn’t extinct—it’s the blue whale. These massive animals can grow to over 30 meters (100 ft) long and weigh as much as 180,000 kilograms (400,000 lbs). A blue whale’s heart is as large as a small car, and its beat can be heard from up to 3,000 meters (2 miles) away. Their mouths are spacious enough to hold 100 people, and their arteries are so enormous that a basketball could easily float through them.
And according to scientists, blue whales are actually getting even bigger. But don’t worry, it’s not due to a chemical spill or gamma radiation. It’s simply a result of global warming. As warmer ocean currents boost the availability of krill, their primary food source, blue whales are defying the trend of shrinking mammal populations and continuing to grow.
6. Some Whales Can Mimic Human Speech
Whales are capable of producing a wide range of sounds. One beluga whale in captivity, named NOC, became so skilled at imitating human voices that researchers initially thought they were hearing a conversation between two people from afar. This went on for some time, until NOC tricked a diver into thinking someone was shouting at him to surface.
At first, many in the scientific community were doubtful. But upon closer inspection, NOC’s vocalizations were unmistakably atypical for a beluga and matched the acoustic patterns of human speech. NOC made these sounds by manipulating the pressure in his nasal passages and inflating a sac in his blowhole. Eventually, NOC stopped making these sounds altogether. The reason for this remains unknown. It could have been due to hormonal changes as he aged, or perhaps he simply lost interest in the vocal trick.
NOC wasn’t an isolated case. In the 1940s, there were reports of wild belugas whose calls resembled the voices of children. Additionally, a captive whale named ‘Lugosi’ at the Vancouver Aquarium was said to have been able to say its own name.
5. Sperm Whales Sleep Upright
Until recently, scientists believed that whales shared the same sleep pattern as dolphins, sleeping with one half of their brain while keeping the other half alert to dangers. However, a 2013 study following sperm whales with location tags revealed something far stranger and more unusual.
The researchers discovered an entire pod of sperm whales off the coast of Chile, with their bodies completely vertical in the water and their heads just gently floating at the surface. The scientists were able to approach the pod, even nudging one of the whales. In response, all the whales suddenly became active and swam away. They had been asleep.
This observation reveals that sperm whales sleep in one of the most peculiar ways known in the animal kingdom. They appear to dive and take brief naps lasting up to 12 minutes before slowly rising to the surface, head-first. Strangely, they only sleep between 6:00 pm and midnight, though the exact reason for this remains a mystery.
4. Baby Whales Drink Unusually Fatty Milk
Whales are quite the fatty mammals. For instance, baby blue whales gain about 3.7 kg per hour (8 pounds) and consume around 225 liters (950 cups) of their mother’s milk every day! The secret to their rapid growth lies in the fact that whale milk is incredibly rich in fat—up to 50%. This makes it the consistency of toothpaste. Yummy!
The high fat content in whale milk serves two primary purposes. First, it provides a highly nutritious meal, ensuring the rapid and healthy growth of the newborn calf. Second, it helps prevent the milk from quickly dispersing into the water, making feeding more efficient. After all, feeding a baby on land is a lot easier than doing it in the ocean.
3. Whales Adopt Other Animals and Objects
Not all whales are as aggressive as Mocha Dick. In fact, most whales are surprisingly gentle, even toward other species.
In 2011, a pod of sperm whales took in a bottlenose dolphin born with a deformed, s-shaped spine. The dolphin’s original pod likely rejected it due to its deformity. The slower-moving whales, however, proved to be a suitable group for this social animal. Despite the logic, experts are still baffled as to why the whales embraced the dolphin as one of their own.
In a more somber example, female beluga whales have been seen adopting inanimate objects as surrogate calves. Wild belugas have been observed carrying planks, small items, and even full caribou skeletons on their heads or backs, treating them as if they were their own young.
2. Whalesong Spreads Like a Pop Hit
Researchers studying humpback whale songs in 2011 made a curious discovery. The rise and fall of an individual whale’s song closely resembles the structure of a pop song.
In whale communities, all members sing the same song. As time passes, the song evolves, and if a new version is catchy enough, it spreads across other whale populations. When a new whalesong emerges, it’s sometimes a remix of the previous one. A researcher from the University of Queensland, analyzing this phenomenon, likened it to 'splicing an old Beatles song with U2.'
At times, the new song may be entirely unique. The most popular whale songs behave similarly to chart-topping hits, gaining popularity as more whales sing them, and then they travel eastward to reach different whale communities.
1. Moby Dick Was Inspired by Real Events
While the notion of a vengeful whale seeking revenge on whalers might seem like pure fiction today, Herman Melville’s creation of Moby Dick was grounded in actual events. The story was inspired by a real whale named Mocha Dick, who gained notoriety in 1820 after attacking and sinking an English whaling ship. The ship's crew found themselves stranded on a deserted island, ultimately resorting to cannibalism to survive.
Contemporary accounts of Mocha Dick align closely with Melville’s description. He was an albino whale with a white complexion, and his spouting sounded like an unbroken roar. Yet, reports from the time portray him as even more fearsome than his fictional counterpart. Covered in barnacles, he was often seen dragging harpoons and ropes behind him, remnants from failed attempts by whalers to kill him.
+Zombie Worms
Whales possess the largest bones on Earth. Without a natural method to dispose of them, the ocean floor would be littered with whale skeletons. Fortunately, nature has provided a solution in the form of the zombie worm, a creature that takes on the important task of cleaning up these enormous bones.
The zombie worm, scientifically known as Osedax mucofloris, has a name that translates to 'bone-eating snot flower.' This name is fitting, as the worms burrow into whale bones, developing a root-like system while the exposed parts are coated in mucus that resembles, well, snot.
To make things even stranger, the zombie worm lacks a mouth, so it secretes acid through its skin to break down bones. It then consumes the proteins and collagen released from the bones. But the worm doesn’t have a digestive system or an anus either, making its feeding process a mystery. The leading theory is that the worm absorbs these nutrients through a symbiotic parasite living within it.
In short, the zombie worm is a bizarre, acid-spitting creature that feasts on bones while hosting parasitic organisms within its body. After learning about it, we may never look at spiders the same way again.
