Lifespan 

Baleen whales are inclined to remain longer than dolphins. It’s thought that bowhead whales can keep as a lot as 200 years outdated. Blue whales keep between 80 and 90 years. Bottlenose dolphins keep for spherical 40 years. The standard lifespan for an orca is 30 to 50 years. 

Weight-reduction plan 

Relating to consuming routine, baleen whales eat smaller meals at a much bigger amount than dolphins, consuming tons of krill, plankton, and small fish. 

Dolphins eat larger prey, along with quite a few species of fish, squid, jellyfish, crustaceans, and octopus. Their consuming routine depends upon the place they keep and what’s accessible. 

Echolocation 

Dolphins use echolocation to hint down their prey. They emit a clicking sound by way of the water and use the sound waves that bounce once more at them to hunt out meals. Dolphins moreover use echolocation to talk with one another. 

Baleen whales can’t echolocate. Nonetheless they do discuss with each other by way of their whale ‘music’—deep, low calls which will journey huge distances all through the ocean. 

Behaviour 

Every whales and dolphins are social creatures. Nonetheless dolphins are inclined to journey in loads larger social groups. Counting on the species, a typical dolphin pod consists of 10 to fifteen folks, although super-pods of over 1,000 animals have been observed in areas with an abundance of meals. 

Baleen whales are inclined to journey alone or in smaller groups. They typically congregate to feed, breed, or migrate and generally come collectively in the midst of the calving season. 

However, because of their noises can journey such prolonged distances—over lots of of kilometres—it might very nicely be that baleen whales be in contact with one another even after they’re geographically far apart. 

Every whales and dolphins are endangered 

Like many animals presently, dolphins and whales are threatened by native climate change and human train. Man-made marine noise causes stress and interferes with whale and dolphin communication, native climate change is affecting meals availability and ocean chemistry, whereas vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing nets are moreover pushing species to the brink of extinction. 

Vaquitas, the smallest cetaceans, are critically endangered. As of 2024, there are literally solely 8 to 13 mature folks left throughout the wild. The North Atlantic correct whale, Atlantic humpback dolphin, and Rice’s whale are all critically endangered, too. 

That’s why IFAW is working arduous with companions and communities across the globe to protect our ocean and the animals that call it dwelling.