Whale watching is only possible at specific times in the calendar year, and only in a select number of places in the world. Yet it represents one of the most special events in the marine tourism agenda. Whale watching Channel Islands is one opportunity to engage in this activity. If you are in the Channel Islands in Oxnard CA at the appropriate time of the year, you should investigate this event.
Surprisingly, whales are actually mammals. They also happen to be the biggest mammals on the planet. They are not true fish, as they may seem to be. On the contrary, they have warm blood and they breathe using their lungs, whereas fish are usually cold-blooded and use gills to breathe.
The gills of fish operate according to the mechanism of water passing through them as the fish moves through the water. Whales cannot rely on this mechanism because they do not have gills. Instead, they have a spout or blowhole on top of their heads. They need to surface constantly to allow used air in their lungs to pass out through the blowhole and new air to enter there. When they surface or breach, they exhale, causing the legendary spray or spout of disrupted seawater above them.
Once it has exhaled or spouted, it inhales new air and then dives beneath the surface again. Whales can swim to extreme depths and also stay underwater for long periods of time. Yet it must surface again at some stage to breathe, in the same way that people cannot stay underwater indefinitely either.
The key threat to whale populations in the world has always been hunting by human seafarers. The traditional name of this practice is whaling. It was a more frequent activity in previous centuries but nowadays it is illegal almost everywhere. Japan still asserts that their annual hunting expedition is in the interests of scientific research, even though it is vehemently opposed by observers. Japan remains the most notable exception to the modern attitude of prohibition, though.
Traditional hunting methods usually involve a device known as a harpoon. This is a specialized spear-type implement which is launched from the ship or boat. In older times, it was literally thrown from a small boat or dinghy which would be rowed alongside the breaching animal. Because the animal must surface regularly, the hunters would wait in anticipation of its next breach.
Modern harpoon technology involved explosives or electric shocks, and the harpoons were launched from the whaling ship with great force by a mechanized cannon. The harpoon would either penetrate the whale's body and electrocute it, or its grenade component would explode in the whale's body and mortally injure or kill it.
Of course, whaling had a drastic effect on whale prevalence, and whales became rare. They take a long time to multiply, and in the larger species pregnancy lasts for as long as two years. With the exception of Japan, which refuses to cease hunting its annually pre-determined quota of whales, governments do not approve of this practice any more. As rare as they are now, if you ever get the opportunity to watch whales, you should take it.
Surprisingly, whales are actually mammals. They also happen to be the biggest mammals on the planet. They are not true fish, as they may seem to be. On the contrary, they have warm blood and they breathe using their lungs, whereas fish are usually cold-blooded and use gills to breathe.
The gills of fish operate according to the mechanism of water passing through them as the fish moves through the water. Whales cannot rely on this mechanism because they do not have gills. Instead, they have a spout or blowhole on top of their heads. They need to surface constantly to allow used air in their lungs to pass out through the blowhole and new air to enter there. When they surface or breach, they exhale, causing the legendary spray or spout of disrupted seawater above them.
Once it has exhaled or spouted, it inhales new air and then dives beneath the surface again. Whales can swim to extreme depths and also stay underwater for long periods of time. Yet it must surface again at some stage to breathe, in the same way that people cannot stay underwater indefinitely either.
The key threat to whale populations in the world has always been hunting by human seafarers. The traditional name of this practice is whaling. It was a more frequent activity in previous centuries but nowadays it is illegal almost everywhere. Japan still asserts that their annual hunting expedition is in the interests of scientific research, even though it is vehemently opposed by observers. Japan remains the most notable exception to the modern attitude of prohibition, though.
Traditional hunting methods usually involve a device known as a harpoon. This is a specialized spear-type implement which is launched from the ship or boat. In older times, it was literally thrown from a small boat or dinghy which would be rowed alongside the breaching animal. Because the animal must surface regularly, the hunters would wait in anticipation of its next breach.
Modern harpoon technology involved explosives or electric shocks, and the harpoons were launched from the whaling ship with great force by a mechanized cannon. The harpoon would either penetrate the whale's body and electrocute it, or its grenade component would explode in the whale's body and mortally injure or kill it.
Of course, whaling had a drastic effect on whale prevalence, and whales became rare. They take a long time to multiply, and in the larger species pregnancy lasts for as long as two years. With the exception of Japan, which refuses to cease hunting its annually pre-determined quota of whales, governments do not approve of this practice any more. As rare as they are now, if you ever get the opportunity to watch whales, you should take it.
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