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Whales and Their Relatives

 

Whales are divided into two main kinds based on how they feed: baleen and toothed. These two groups are broken into smaller and smaller groups until they get down to individual species.

Whales
People often use the term "whale" to refer to the large animals in the group. These can be both baleen whales (the filter feeders) and toothed whales (which hunt single prey).

Dolphins
Dolphins are small toothed whales. They usually have a beak and always have conical teeth that taper to a fine point. Would you be surprised to learn that the killer whale (Orcinus orca) is actually the largest dolphin?

Porpoises

Porpoises are small toothed whales. They have no beak. Their teeth are small, flat, and spade-shaped.

See Them in the Exhibition

Visitors will be enthralled by the sheer variety, size, and scale of the whale skeletons, skulls and models that are presented.

The skeletons of a 17.8 m (58.4 ft.) male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and a 9.8 m (32 ft.) female sperm whale take centre stage in the exhibition. The skeletons give a sense of the sperm whale's size as the largest toothed predator on the planet.

In Whales Tohorā, you can explore the biology of whales and find out about their extraordinary lifestyles—from some of the smallest dolphins to the mightiest creature on Earth.