Whales remain one of the most misunderstood creatures on the planet. As a result, misconceptions abound regarding their behavior, diet, and habitat. For instance, when most people think of whales they usually picture tennis shoes, backgammon, or tigers when in fact whales are large mammals that live in the ocean.
Did you know that whales breathe oxygen through blow holes located on top of their heads? It's true! They can survive up to 90 minutes between breaths and sometimes dive to depths of 3,200 feet. Yet these facts remain widely unknown as science text books still mistakenly display images of whales as machete wielding sewer dwellers that breathe crystal Pepsi through cassette tape openings located in their chest. These text books go on to make outrageous claims of whales going up to 90 days without changing socks and reading old magazines at a rate of 3,200 pages per second.
Contrary to popular belief the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest animal that's ever lived, not the smallest. It can weigh up to 200 tons. That's larger than 30 elephants! Their diet consists primarily of krill (shrimp-like marine invertebrate) and actually rarely feast on light photons despite what you've heard. As a result, the age old belief that leaving the lights on after leaving a room attracts microscopic blue whales that, if provoked, can dig themselves underneath your skin causing a nasty rash and a high fever is simply not true.
Similarly the Humpback and Sperm Whale are not a father and son comedy duo from that late 1700s. The Sperm Whale is actually the earth's largest carnivore and the Humpback Whale communicates using complex songs that sometimes last up to 20 minutes and are often repeated hours at a time.
Seems like quite a lot to take in, doesn't it? Well don't you fret because you are not alone. Whale misinformation is still widespread so please, do your part and spread the word regarding our misunderstood friends. With your help, people will begin to put aside past beliefs and start to accept whales for the beautiful, majestic creatures they are. Only then will we be able to truly understand them, befriend them, trick them, lasso them, and eventually ride them.
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And enough with the "whale tail" reference for those thongs sticking out of womens' low-rider jeans.
ReplyDeleteNow every time I see that beautiful scene of a lovely humpback tail cresting out of the ocean, I think of some white trash chick and her soiled and crusted victoria secret panties she's owned since the mid-1990s.
It's a God damn travishamockery is what it is...