CORE'S GUIDE TO THE WHALES OF NEW ENGLAND
The word cetacean is a collective term for all whales, dolphins and porpoises. Cetaceans can be divided into two basic groups, the toothed whales, or odonticetes and the baleen whales, or mysticetes.
The toothed whales include pilot whales, beaked whales, orca, sperm whales and all of the dolphin and porpoise species. They generally travel in large, extended family groups called pods and feed primarily on fish and squid. Toothed whales have just a single blowhole on the top of the head used for breathing.
The baleen whales are most of the larger species of cetaceans, including the blue whale, fin whale, humpback, right whale and minke whale. The baleen whales differ widely from the toothed whales in that they are quite solitary, most commonly occurring alone or in pairs. Baleen whales filter small fish and zooplankton (microscopic animals) from the water using a very efficient filtering system. All of the baleen whales have two blowholes on the top of the head for breathing.
There are seven cetacean species that are commonly sighted off of the coast of New England. CORE conducts research aboard the boats at Yankee Whale Watching.The baleen species found in this area include fin whales, humpbacks, minke whales and right whales, while pilot whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and harbor porpoise are the toothed species frequently seen. Offshore species will occasionally visit the area, but the above species are observed most often in our study area.
INTERACTIVE PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE
Please choose any of the cetaceans listed below for more information.
| Humpback Whales - (Megaptera novaeangliae) | Fin Whales - ( Balaenoptera physalus) |
| Minke Whales - (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) | North Atlantic Right Whale - (Eubalaena glacialis) |
| Atlantic White-sided Dolphins - (Lagenorhynchus acutus) | Pilot Whales - (Globicephala melaena) |
| Harbor Porpoise - (Phocoena phocoena) | Offshore Species |
Quiz your whale knowledge with our "Did You Know" fact sheet!
May we suggest some books to read, a crossword puzzle , word search or take a quiz on whales & cetaceans.
Another great website with great information and activities is WhaleNet: http://whale.wheelock.edu