On Earth's long evolutionary path,There is a terrestrial artiodactyl that entered the sea 50 million years agoIn order to survive in the ocean, it degenerates its hind limbs, cuts off its retreat, and evenThe forelimbs evolved into the fins of fishes, and the tail fin was developed
At the same time, this artiodactyl that enters the ocean alsoMove the nostril organ you use to breathe to the top of your headso that it can periodically rise above the surface of the sea to breathe and exchange air, which is laterCetaceans
Cetaceans can probably be divided into two types, one isBaleen whalesThere are no teeth in the mouth, only 150 to 400 comb-like whiskers on the sides of the upper jaw.
Baleen whalesThe other type is the toothed whale, which has cone-shaped teethIt's just that different species have big differences in the shape and number of teeth.
And what we need to understand today is one of the baleen whalesRight whales
The right whale resembles a large spindle in appearance, fat and stubbyThe head is large and occupies more than 20% of the bodyThe caudal fin is also equivalent to 1 3 widths of body length, with shorter fins on both sides.
Typically,An adult right whale can grow up to 18 metersIt weighed 100 tons, mainly distributed in:Atlantic, Pacificand other areas, and sometimes they can be found in our country.
However, right whales are not a "good-looking person", compared to the beauty and agility of other cetaceansThe upper jaw of the right whale is slender but curved, with a protruding jaw and a bow-like mouth, long and large.
This causes right whales to look not good-lookingThe big head occupies a small half of the body, plusRight whales need to grow about 200 to 300 baleen plates about 2 meters on both sides of their mouthsThe shape of the jaw looks like a shovel.
While feeding, right whales grow their mouths wide and then move down the water to countless plankton, mainly for:Stinging fleas, long-bellied sword fleasWait for the "shovel" into your mouth, then close your mouth slightly, and thenSqueeze with your tongue to filter out excess waterWait, and enjoy your own meal.
In such eating habits,Right whales are also slow swimming, migrating only about 2 to 3 nautical miles an hour, or 37 to 555 kmappearance, even in the face of the threat of natural predators,The right whale can only escape at about 9 kilometers per hour
It is worth mentioning that right whales have a narrow diet, with a pharynx of only 6 to 7 centimeters, simply unable to swallow larger fish, is almost limited by the evolutionary pathCan only feed on zooplankton.
But precisely because of itThe right whale's slow movement speed and its peculiar feeding style also have super large calluses on its head
on the head of a right whaleHuge calluses clinging to the top of the right whale's headIt looks very uncomfortable, and even if you are a cleanliness addict, you will definitely want to use a cleaning tool to scrape off the cocoon on the head of the right whale.
These "calluses" are actually not as familiar to humans, because often doing a thing, the hand or other parts rub against the object, resulting in a crusty situationAfter all, the right whale lives in the ocean, and its ** will not be as delicate as humans, and it is impossible for it to produce calluses on its own.
In fact,The calluses of right whales actually come from parasites, mainly whale lice, barnacles, etc, but only a few whales will have these parasites, but the vast majority of right whales are not immune to parasites.
This is actually because of the slow swimming speed of right whales, biologists sayThe main reason barnacles choose to host parasitism may be the speed of the current, after all, the faster the host, the more mobile the ocean, the stronger the water flow will beParasites such as barnacles often have difficulty clinging to their hosts.
Experiments have shown thatOften, when the host swims at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, barnacles and other parasites are unable to cling to it, but the right whales are too slow, and they form a very "habitable" home for parasites.
Human beings have learned to think and create in the long process of evolution, we have the knowledge, society, civilization, we have learned to use tools and hard work to obtain sufficient food, and now we have more efficient and sophisticated technology for farming, breeding, and so onMost countries now don't have to worry about food anymore.
However, animals are completely different from humansThe vast majority of animals have only two purposes in this world - to survive and reproduce, and right whales spend their lives on the run for food.
We've mentioned it beforeRight whales have narrow throats and are limited in what they can swallowMost of them only depend on mayflies for their livelihood, and the slightly larger fish can only vomit out regretfully.
In general,The larger the animal, the more energy it needs, and the more food it needsZooplankton are only a few small microorganisms, and it is difficult for right whales to eat zooplankton in a short period of time to fill their stomachs.
How long does it take for right whales to eat up to 18 meters in size to meet their basic needs?
Not to mentionRight whales swim very slowly, the range of zooplankton it obtains is also relatively limited, it is very likely that it sucks a sip, and then sucks all the zooplankton in this area along the seawater into its mouth, butThe next area requires it to travel a certain distance before it can eat new zooplankton.
Therefore,The huge calluses on the top of the head of the right whale are simply due to the cruel survival laws of the animal kingdom, because "whales feed on the sky".
One of the parasites hovering over the head of the right whaleBarnaclesActually, it's a kindArthropods, it isHermaphroditic, but often cross-fertilized, in other words,Although it has different sexes, it cannot reproduce on its own, but needs to be fertilized with different individualsMultiply.
Barnacles look like they have a calcareous shellTherefore, it was thought to be a shell in the early days, and it was not until the 20th century that the true face of barnacles was discoveredThey tend to cling in groups somewhere, so to speak, in the intertidal zone of the whole sea, as well as in the shallow waters of the subtidal zoneare all distributed.
Barnacle individuals. Another kindThe whale lice is also a type of arthropod and is closely related to the wheat straw worm, also known as the pork rib shrimp, but the former has a light gray appearance, and the latter is a more showy purple, but it really doesn't look like it from the outside.
The reason why the whale lice have such a name is because it is only found on cetaceans, no matter what the species, is especiallyBaleen whalesThey often parasitize on cetaceans' wounds, fin folds, etc. with pliers, arthropods, and other parts.
Whale lice. Some species of whale lice also bite a wound on the cetacean's epidermis, so that they can parasitize and reproduce, and scientists have found through researchA baleen whale can carry up to 100,000 whale lice.
Whale lice do not swim, and once they are parasitic on their host, they will not move unless two cetaceans come into close contact with each other, which may cause some of the whale lice to come to the other whaleStaying on the original host for the rest of their lives.
But the good thing isAt most, whale lice will poke a wound on the whale** to parasitize, but they will hardly cause other harm to the whale, themFeeds on algae and zooplankton, with no interest in the flesh and blood of whales. Unlike land lice, they not only suck blood, but also transmit viruses that have a certain physical impact on humans.
However, barnacles are much more hateful than whale lice, they are not only parasitic on whales, but sometimes "bully" turtles, and even caused turtles to die because their bodies were full of barnacles.
Barnacles secrete a sticky substance that sticks firmly to the host's body as soon as they have chosen a perchand slowly develop into a calcareous shell like a seashell.
AbsolutelyLike whale lice, they feed mainly on zooplanktonThere will also be a small hole in the shell, and if there is zooplankton swimming through, barnacles will doThe reticulated part protrudes from the hole, thus catching zooplankton for consumption
andBarnacles affect animals far more than whale lice, although it adheres to the host with mucus, butIt is not stuck to the surface of the host, but deep into the host's **, which will bring pain to the animals
For example, there was a ship that was hit by a humpback whale, and the people on board were terrified, thinking that everyone was going to die in the whale attack, only to find that the humpback whale only hit it, and then left in style, leaving a pile of barnacles. It is highly likely that the humpback whale could not bear the torture of barnacles, so he hit the boat to remove the barnacles from his body.
The head of the right whale is crowned with a white plate of whale lice and barnacles, making the right whale as if suffering from ** disease, very scary, and even if a dense phobia patient sees it, he can't help but break out in a cold sweat.
JustThe only natural predator of this slow-moving, very gentle right whale is humans, except for killer whales, due to the indiscriminate hunting of humans in the past, the population of right whales has plummetedAccording to 2005 data, there may be only about 100 in the North Atlantic, and slightly more in the Pacific, but less than 1,000.
And on May 28, 2019, scientists said after researchWith the global warming brought about by the greenhouse effect, the temperature of the oceans is also showing an upward trend, and the right whales in the North Atlantic are getting less and less foodThey are also facing an increasingly dangerous situation.
Maybe one day, we will never see this gentle creature again, but before it becomes extinct, we have a chance to save it, of courseThis requires the joint efforts of all mankind to save energy and reduce emissions and reduce the impact of the greenhouse effect.