Stephanie Bickford

Web Dropin 5

Grades 2-3

 

What’s for Dinner?:

Feeding Behavior of Baleen Whales and Toothed Whales

 

 

                   TOOTHED WHALES                                                                BALEEN WHALES

toothed whales have teeth                    

 

 

 

 

Whales are classified into two main groups: toothed and baleen.  Toothed whales are predators.  They use their teeth to grip onto their food, either swallowing it whole or tearing it into large chunks. Most toothed whales are smaller than baleen whales.  Toothed whales are also more social, living in pods.  

 

Baleen whales don’t have teeth. Instead, they have many thin plates in their mouth that work as a filter (called baleen).  To eat, they either strain the water through their baleen, trapping the food, or they keep their mouths wide open, taking in food and water at the same time. Others, like the gray whale, swim sideways skimming the ocean bottom.  With mouths open, they scoop up the creatures, sifting out water and sand.  Baleen whales tend to swim alone or in small groups.

 

 

 

 

        To do this assignment, click on the site for Zoom Whales, Whale Information Sheets.  Using the information provided on this page, chart the types of food each of these five whales eat.  

http://www.allaboutnature.com/subjects/whales/alphawhales.shtml . 

            

 

 

 

 

Types of Foods

 

 

 

 

krill

large fish

zooplankton

dolphins

seals

humans

Types of Whales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

minke whale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

orca (killer whale)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

humpback whale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sperm whale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

blue whale