Have you ever thought about the landlords of the oceans? There is a saying:
"Big fish eats the smaller ones." The most powerful and deadly animals
who taste the freedom of the sea world are whales. So many kinds of whales
exist. One of the most interesting kinds is the bottle-nosed whale. It is no
wonder why they are given this name. Their bulbous forehead and elongated snout
give them a unique character. Besides these unique physical characteristics,
they have other special qualities as well including their rarity and their
enormous size. Northern species and southern species are the two types of
bottle-nosed whales that are categorized by the difference in their size, living
habitats and mating seasons. Starting from the physical appearance, the first
distinction is the difference in size between northern bottle-nosed whale and
southern bottle-nosed whale. The northern bottle-nosed whales have a longer body
compared to the southern ones. Their bodies reach to a maximum length of 32ft
and average 7.5 metric tons of weight. On the other hand, the southern species
grow to a maximum of 25ft in length and average of 7 metric tons. The second
obvious distinction is the difference in their color. Northern species are gray
with a lighter underside and a pale band around the neck. The color of southern
species varies more; they have blue-black, gray, brown or yellow bodies and
light-colored snouts and undersides. However, they share a common treat, males
have two conical teeth in the lower jaw and females have no teeth. In short, the
size, color and the shape of bottle-nosed whales vary according to where they
are found. The second quality is their living habitats. Both of the species
usually inhabit cold waters deeper than 3000ft. They are most often observed in
deep trenches or canyons in the sea floor. Northern bottle-nosed whales live in
the North Atlantic. Significant populations are found in a vast undersea canyon
near Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and north and west of Scotland near the Shetland
Islands, the Orkney Islands, and the Outer Hebrides Islands. Southern
bottle-nosed whales range throughout the Southern Hemisphere from Antarctica
north to the equator. In winter, they are sighted occasionally off the coasts of
the Hawaiian Islands and Japan, as well as in the Pacific and Indian oceans. The
third quality is their mating. Both southern and northern species' mating takes
place during the spring. After a gestational period of about 11 months, female
bottle-nosed whales deliver a single baby and then nurse it for nearly a year.
They give birth every two or three years. The final quality is their rarity.
Some people, such as the natives of Denmark's Faroe Islands, have traditionally
hunted the northern bottle-nosed whale for its meat and the medicinal properties
of its blubber. Unfortunately, these whales were extensively hunted by
commercial whalers through the early 1900's, with commercial hunting continuing
until the species was granted protected status in 1977. Southern bottle-nosed
whales, in contrast, have never been hunted on a major scale. Consequently, all
the scientific classifications that are stated above about the bottle-nosed
whales are for the human beings to know them better. We, human beings, are so
overwhelmed by their beauty that we need to explore and explain their
environment and put them under titles like Hyperoodon ampullatus (northern
bottle-nosed whale) and Hyperoodon planifrons (southern bottle-nosed whales).
Science can name them, but the goal of discovering the mystery behind the
landlords of the ocean is unreachable.