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Approximately how long can a whale stay under the water?
A whale can stay under the water approximately one hour and fifteen minutes
before coming to the surface for air!
Whales live in deep, coastal ocean waters. They can be found in all oceans
of the world. Whales are sea mammals. A mammal is a warm blooded animal with
a backbone. Warm blooded means having a set body temperature. Whales have
large, fish like bodies. They have flat, wide arms called flippers. Their
tails are called flukes and some have fins on their back which are called
dorsal fins. Their flippers, tails, and fins help them swim. Whales eyes are
located on the sides of their heads. They have a blow hole on the top of
their head, this is a hole that works like a nose. This is how a whale
breaths. All whales must be on top of the water to breath. They breath by
sucking air into their lungs through the blow hole. They usually take a good
breathe before they dive deep into the water.
Whales are categorized into two major groups. Ones who have teeth called
toothed whales and ones who
don¹t are known as baleen whales. Baleen is rows of long, thin bone, instead
of teeth inside their mouth. Toothed whales live up to 30 to 80 years, while
most baleen whales live 50 to 100 years.
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