Whale: A Milk-Feeding Mammal

Shariq Ali
Valueversity

A whale may appear to be a gigantic fish, but in reality, it is a mammal.

Like humans, whales breathe air, maintain a warm body temperature, and nurse their young with milk.

But the way a whale feeds its baby is unlike any other creature on land.

A mother whale does not hold her baby in her lap. While swimming, she releases a strong jet of milk from her nipple into the surrounding seawater, and the calf swims alongside her, drinking it. This milk is astonishingly rich in fat—nearly fifty percent—which is why it does not dissolve in the ocean water.

Because of this dense nutrition, a baby whale grows at an extraordinary pace, drinking nearly 200 kilograms of milk every single day.

Whales communicate through complex sounds. The blue whale—the largest creature ever to live on Earth—can reach up to thirty meters in length and weigh as much as thirty-three elephants. Yet despite their immense size, they are remarkably gentle and intelligent beings.

Thousands of miles of migration, strong family bonds, and the silent language of the deep ocean—whales remind us that beneath the surface of our seas lies a world of wonder we have yet to fully understand.