One of the most common activities in ocean tourism is whale watching. There are some very well known locations for whale watching, and one of them is the Channel Islands, Oxnard CA. The whales are only seen at certain times of the year, so you need to be sure about when to try this. Whale watching Channel Islands is definitely an option if you are in the area at those specific times of the year.
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 in fish are rich in blood-vessels and are specially adapted to absorb oxygen out of the water that is constantly passing through them as they swim. Whales cannot do this, as they do not have gills. This means that they need to break the surface of the water regularly to take in fresh air. They do this through what is known as the spout or blowhole. As the whale breaches, or surfaces, it exhales through the blowhole, which is situated on the top of its head. This causes the characteristic fountain of seawater spray.
It then inhales fresh air and submerses itself, or dives, once more. It can dive very deep and remain underwater for a long time. The main principle, though, is that, like a human diver, it must surface at some point in time to breathe.
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.
Whaling has always used an implement called the harpoon. A harpoon is a spear-shaped metal implement that is directed through the air at its target from the whaling vessel. In ancient times, the harpoon was held in the hand and thrown by the power of the hunter's arm. This would be done by a sailor standing in a smaller vessel positioned strategically next to the whale in the water. It cannot avoid surfacing at regular intervals, so the sailor would remain alert in the hunting boat, waiting for it to do so.
In the modern era of whaling, harpoons either included a grenade or electricity. The electric harpoon would electrocute the whale in the water, while the grenade variety would enter into the whale's body and then detonate, causing terrible injury or the death of the animal. Modern whaling vessels used special harpoon launchers or cannons to cast the harpoon more powerfully at the whale.
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 in fish are rich in blood-vessels and are specially adapted to absorb oxygen out of the water that is constantly passing through them as they swim. Whales cannot do this, as they do not have gills. This means that they need to break the surface of the water regularly to take in fresh air. They do this through what is known as the spout or blowhole. As the whale breaches, or surfaces, it exhales through the blowhole, which is situated on the top of its head. This causes the characteristic fountain of seawater spray.
It then inhales fresh air and submerses itself, or dives, once more. It can dive very deep and remain underwater for a long time. The main principle, though, is that, like a human diver, it must surface at some point in time to breathe.
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.
Whaling has always used an implement called the harpoon. A harpoon is a spear-shaped metal implement that is directed through the air at its target from the whaling vessel. In ancient times, the harpoon was held in the hand and thrown by the power of the hunter's arm. This would be done by a sailor standing in a smaller vessel positioned strategically next to the whale in the water. It cannot avoid surfacing at regular intervals, so the sailor would remain alert in the hunting boat, waiting for it to do so.
In the modern era of whaling, harpoons either included a grenade or electricity. The electric harpoon would electrocute the whale in the water, while the grenade variety would enter into the whale's body and then detonate, causing terrible injury or the death of the animal. Modern whaling vessels used special harpoon launchers or cannons to cast the harpoon more powerfully at the whale.
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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