Concern for Cetaceans
Yes, World Wildlife Fund has concern for whales. There are about 80 species of cetaceans, a group that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Of these, 12 species are commonly referred to as the "great whales" or "large whales": the bowhead, northern right, southern right, pygmy right, blue, fin, sei, humpback, Bryde's, minke, gray, and sperm whales.
Cetaceans play an important role in the life of the ocean: they serve as flagships and sentinels for the health and well-being of the whole marine ecosystem. Cetaceans are air-breathing, warm-blooded mammals that bear live young and nurse them on milk. The study of fossils indicates terrestrial ancestors that made their way back to the seas around 55 million years ago. Cetaceans fall into two categories: baleen whales, or mysticetes (encompassing all of the so-called "great whales" except the sperm whale), and toothed whales, or odontocetes (including the sperm whale, smaller whales, and all dolphins and porpoises).
For more information on whales, please visit the Endangered Wildlife Section.
Cetaceans play an important role in the life of the ocean: they serve as flagships and sentinels for the health and well-being of the whole marine ecosystem. Cetaceans are air-breathing, warm-blooded mammals that bear live young and nurse them on milk. The study of fossils indicates terrestrial ancestors that made their way back to the seas around 55 million years ago. Cetaceans fall into two categories: baleen whales, or mysticetes (encompassing all of the so-called "great whales" except the sperm whale), and toothed whales, or odontocetes (including the sperm whale, smaller whales, and all dolphins and porpoises).
For more information on whales, please visit the Endangered Wildlife Section.
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