Why Does a Whale Spout?
Though it lives in the sea, the whale is a warm-blooded mammal. It must breathe oxygen from the air to live. When surfacing, the whale takes in oxygen through the blowhole on top of its head. Then, filling its large elastic lungs which are connected to the blowhole, the whale dives to feed. While underwater, the whale’s body hea
Whales are not fish but mammals. They are warm-blooded creatures whose young are not hatched from an egg but are born live. And the baby whale is fed on its mothers milk like other little mammals. But whales, like all water mammals, are descended from ancestors that lived on land. So they had to adapt themselves for life in the water. This means that over millions of years certain changes took place in their bodies so that they could live in the water. Since whales have no gills but breathe through their lungs, one of the most important changes had to do with their breathing apparatus. Their nostrils used to be up in the forward part of the head. These have moved back to the tops of their heads. They now form one or two blow-holes which make it easier for them to breathe at the surface of the water.
