Family stories
Humpback whales come from the order CETACEA. Cetacea includes whales, dolphins, and porpoise. (There are no porpoise in Hawaii). Cetus is Latin, the original meaning was "large sea animal", and it is used in biological names to mean "whale". Cetaceans are the marine mammals who have fully adapted to aquatic lifestyles. Their forelimbs are modified to flippers, their tiny hind limbs are vestigial , they are not attached to a backbone, and their bodies are fusiform (spindle shaped). The order Cetacea contains 90 known animals, all marine except four species of river dolphins. Cetaceans are nearly hairless (dolphins are born with a mustache, and humpbacks have hair on their heads during their entire lifetime), and are insulated by a layer of blubber. They are noted for their amazing intelligence. The order is divided into two sub-orders. Mysteceti (baleen/mustached) and Odonteceti (toothed animals). Mystecetes have two blowholes and odontocetes have only one. In this family of whales, the humpback whale has five siblings: the Blue -, Fin -, Sei -, Bryde's and Minke whales. The Blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived on our planet: it can grow more than 90 feet long and weigh up to 180 tons. Its heart is as large as a small car! At Whalesong, we concentrate on the largest and most famous cetacean to the waters around Hawaii, the humpback whale: Class: Mammals (Mammalia) Order: Sea mammals (Cetacea)Subordination: Baleen whales (Mysticeti) Family: Rorquals (Balaenopteridae)Kind: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)
