Their long migration routes and deep dives mean that they are not easy to track. We know that cetaceans are intelligent, but there is still so much to learn about how they think and communicate. We even sent humpback whale songs into outer space with the spacecrafts Voyager 1 and 2, engraved on golden records for another civilization to decipher. Whales have always captured our hearts-the moans that come from humpback whales and the clicks from common dolphins remind us of our own human conversations. On this page, we will generally refer to all cetaceans as whales, and in some instances specify when referring to traits or behaviors unique to toothed whales, baleen whales, or specific species. Despite their very different diets and sizes, both baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti) share a common (and perhaps surprising) ancestor-land-dwelling mammals related to today’s hippos that lived over 50 million years ago. They are found in all of the world’s oceans, and even in some freshwater rivers. But cetaceans also include dolphins, porpoises and other toothed whales, and in total contain more than 80 different species. When we think of whales, the enormous ones that filter tiny plankton from seawater with their baleen-fringed upper jaw often come first to mind (like the right whale in the picture above).
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