Expository Essay: Blue Whales and White Sharks

Blue Whales and White Sharks

      The blue whales and the white sharks both can be found in great various oceans. Blue whales and white sharks likewise exhibit great strength. They are also both heavily hunted for meat and other products. This hunting nearly causes their extinction. Also both can be classified as endangered species. Still both deserve great importance and protection especially from hunters.  The blue whales and white sharks are both known to be giants, but they have their own differences.    

      The largest creatures living on earth are known to be as the blue whales. However they have small dorsal fin set far on their backs. Their skin has a light gray and white spotted pattern, which appear blue below the surface of the water during sunny days. Most whales migrate distances to spend their summer months in the cooler waters of Polar Regions. According to Wursig, Bernd G., blue whales may reach over 24 m (80 ft) in length. They can be found in all oceans of the world. Blue whales are ocean breathing mammals. They produce loud, low frequency moans that travel deeply underwater which appears to be as songs they use for communication. They feed on small creatures like krill and fishes. As water and food rush to the whale’s mouth, its mouth expands in a huge pouch or bag. Then the whale slowly closes its mouth leaving a small opening which forces water to pass into it. Blue whales often lunge through their prey side by side, apparently using each other to block the escape of their prey. The blue whales belong to Balaenopteridae of the suborder Mysticeti, order Cetacea family. They are classified as Balaenoptera musculus.

     Female whales may give birth once every two or three years. Mostly their mating period is during summer and their gestation period last almost about 11 months. A single young is born usually on springs, twins are rare. As adults, blue whales can weigh more than 100 tons. Female whales are larger than males of the same age.

     To find a blue whale, start by watching the surface of the sea looking for a blow. According to the Encarta of 2007, they release blows up to 30 feet high. Next you can use binoculars to spot them. They are large and have a light gray skin. Then you can see their dorsal fin near their tail. Finally you should check their triangular tail flukes, to make sure you have spotted for a blue whale. However, if the flukes rise above the sea, these are called breaching; it may dive deep and be gone for a while.

     The great white sharks are also called as white pointer and white death because they were considered the most dangerous of the sharks. They have black eyes and large, serrated teeth. They’re bodies are blue or brown-gray, not white, except on the underside. Great white sharks use hearing, smell, sight, taste, touch, and electrical insight to locate food. They are water breathing fishes. They are known to be dangerous but only little are known about its behavior. However, they are known to be solitary and silent. According to the Encarta of 2007, one of the largest blue sharks were caught was off Montauk, Long Island, New York, in 1964; it was 5.34 m (17.5 ft) long and weighed an estimated 2043 kg (4500 lb). White sharks swallow unchewed creatures and object half their size especially seals, dolphins, turtles, other sharks, chunks of whale, fish, and ship's garbage. The great white shark belongs to the Lamnidae family. They are distinguished as Carcharodon carcharias.

     According to the Wikipedia, the female sharks often secrete a protective shell around the embryo and then deposit it in the sea. The shells were covered with minute marine life that produced clusters of purple, pink, and snowy white camouflage. After a short time the leathery shell hardens and serves to protect the embryo, sustaining it with nutrients in the yolk, until the embryo hatches. The eggs are often equipped with tendrils that anchor them to rocks or weeds. The cases were as secure as if they had been hung with clothes pins on a wash line. Here the cases would remain for almost a year, the period required for baby sharks to hatch.

     The great white sharks are the largest of the strictly carnivorous sharks. They can be found in tropical and temperate oceans and seas worldwide. Similar to the blue whales the great white shark can be found by watching the surface of the sea carefully, with extreme precautions because they are risky. Next you can also use binoculars to spot them. They have these sharp triangular fins which can catch anyone’s attention. Finally you can check their body if possible, for researchers; they have bodies which are blue or brown- gray, not white, except on the underside. They are extremely dangerous so it’s really hard to find them. Also these kinds of sharks, they are almost impossible to handle.

     Although both the blue whale and white shark are mostly found in a body of water a blue whale is considered as a mammal while a white shark is still a fish. Blue whales are 100-110 feet long while white sharks are 50 feet long. Blue whales can weigh up to 150 tons while white sharks can weigh about 10 tons. They have big differences but both are the largest of their kind.

     These kinds of animals are not beast; they are fish or mammals in the movement of water, given shape ready to approach whatever may come. Their life on the ocean waves it’s their home on a rolling deep. The animals senses engages the world as a highly and spectacular place. The more animals the more the world presents itself to the sense of fulfillers. We should always remember that the specific values and powers of each living thing of everyday no matter what, are each of equal importance.