Paragraph on “Are whales fish?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

Are whales fish?

Although whales spend all their time in the water, and are shaped rather like fish, they are mammals, however, just like you or I. Fish use their gills to take in oxygen which is dissolved in water, but whales must come to the surface to breathe air, although they can stay under water for nearly an hour. Instead of moving their tails from side-to-side when swimming (as fish do), whales move their tails up and down, thrusting their streamlined bodies through the water. Their flippers are used to help keep them on an even keel. Because they are mammals, whales have a body covered with skin — having fur or hair would slow them down when swimming, by causing friction. Whales are warm-blooded and would become very cold but for the thick layer of blubber (fat) which they have under their skin.

Because many whales are so large, they often disperse and travel far apart in order to find food, but they ‘talk’ to each other by sending out rapid waves of sound which can travel as far as 1,120 km (700 miles)! In the same way, they can locate food by sending out sound waves and waiting for the echo to return. If there is no echo, then the whale knows that nothing is in its path.

When baby whales are born, they leave the mother, tail first. As soon as the baby, or calf, has left its mother’s body, she nudges it to the surface to take its first gulp of air. After that, it is suckled on its mother’s milk, just like all baby mammals.