Why is it, that, a Whale spout?

Whale are mammals and not fish. They are warm-blooded creatures. Their young are not hatched from eggs but are born alive. The baby whale is fed on its mother’s milk like other little mammals.

The whales, like other water mammals are descended from the ancestors that lived on land. They had to adapt themselves for life in the water. This means that millions of years ago certain changes took place in their bodies so that they could live in the water.

Whales have no gills. They breathe through lungs. This is one of the most important change that had to do with their breathing apparatus. Their nostrils used to be in the forward part of the head. There have moved back to the tops of their heads. They now form one or two blow-holes which make it easier in them to breathe at the water surface.

With the help of little valves, these nostrils are closed under water. The air passages are shut off from the mouth so that they are in no danger of taking water into the lungs.

Whales usually, come out of water every five to ten minutes to breath. They can remain under water in about forty five minutes.

On reaching the surface, they first “blow” or exhale the used air from the lungs. In so doing, a lot of sound I heard from a distance. What are the constituents of spout? It is not water, but only worn-out air, loaded with water vapour.

They blow many a times until they have completely changed the air in their lungs. Once again they dive deep into water, which we call “Sound”. Some whales have been known to dive over six hundred and ten metres. In sounding, some big whales are found to throw their tail into the air or even jump completely out of water.