why do whales come to the surface to breething air ? Cant they like other fish extract oxygen from the water???
2006-10-31 14:41:00 · 16 answers · asked by Dr. King 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
a whale is not a fish. it's a mammal. it has hair, feeds it's young, and doesn't lay eggs. dolphins are also mammals. both can hold their breath for a long time, but they can't breathe underwater.
2006-10-31 14:45:28 · answer #1 · answered by adam h 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
whales are actually mammals, not fish. Which means like humans, they need oxygen to survive. They can hold their breath for an enormous amount of time and when they need to breath again they come up to the surface and exhale the carbon dioxide out of their lungs and breath in oxygen and this enables them to go back and swim.
2006-10-31 22:45:25 · answer #2 · answered by Knowitall 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because wales are mammals and do not fall under the category of fish. Just like dauphins they must come up for fresh breathable air. Not water dwelling creatures have the ability to process water into oxygen.
2006-10-31 22:45:52 · answer #3 · answered by Roger89 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not fish. They are mammals. That means they don't have gills and have to breathe oxygen directly from the air. Dolphins do the same thing.
2006-10-31 22:44:51 · answer #4 · answered by Esma 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They aren't fish. They are mammals and must breath air which they cannot remove from the water as they have no gills.
2006-10-31 22:45:28 · answer #5 · answered by DrB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whales are not fish,they are mammals.Proof:-
1)They feed their babies milk(all mammals do).
2)They dont have gills.
3)They have lungs to breath air.
Incase you want a site,I gave you 2.
2006-11-01 10:54:03 · answer #6 · answered by farhan ferdous 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whales are not fish; they are mammals -- like you and me. They bear their young live, like our mothers did with you and me. They suckle their young on milk from mammary glands (hence the name mammals).
Whales have flukes (horizontal) on their tails, while fish have (usually) vertical fins for tails.
Also, they breathe through nostrils into lungs, just like you and me.
They breathe air to get oxygen, just like you and me.
They do not have gills, as fish do.
2006-10-31 22:52:57 · answer #7 · answered by brightpool 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First,
Whales are not fish but Mammals.
In order to breathe underwater they have to surface to refuel their lungs.
2006-11-01 02:10:07 · answer #8 · answered by nalaredneb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
whales aren't fish: no gills. Whales are mammals.
2006-10-31 22:44:34 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They aren't fish they are mammals and therefore they breath air.
2006-10-31 22:49:40 · answer #10 · answered by marie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋