Cetacean Glossary
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last updated on
April 10, 2003.
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This Glossary is designed to provide definitions for some of the uncommon words which are often used to describe cetaceans. Throughout the Dolphin Information pages you may notice that certain words will be highlighted. These words are those which are defined here and the definitions can be easily accessed at anytime while browsing the pages simply by clicking on the word. To return to the page from this glossary simply use the "Back" button on your browser.

If there are any words you would like to see added here, please E-Mail me and I will do my best to add them for you.

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Definitions

 A
Acute : Pointed.
Adult : A sexually mature animal which is (or is almost) fully grown.
Amphipod : A small, shrimp-like crustacean that is a food source for many whales.
Anchor patch : A variable grey-white anchor- or 'W'-shaped patch on the chests of some smaller cetaceans.
Anterior : Located toward the front.
B
Baleen/Baleen plates : In some whales, the fibrous plates in parallel rows on either side of the upper jaw used to filter small prey from the water.
Baleen Whale : A suborder of whales with baleen plates instead of teeth, members of the Mysticeti suborder.
Band : A pigmented diagonal or oblique line.
Bar : A short, broad, pigmented vertical line.
Barbel : A fleshy projection of skin, often threadlike, usually found near the mouth, chin, or nostrils.
Beach-rubbing : Rubbing the body on stones in shallow water near to the shore.
Beak : In many toothed whales, the elongated forward portion of the head, consisting of the rostrum and the lower jaw.
Benthic : Living on or associated with the ocean bottom.
Blaze : In cetaceans, a streak or "smear" of light pigmentation on the upper side of the front portion of the body.
Blow : In cetaceans, the expulsion of air at the surface through the blowhole(s), or nostril(s), during exhalation; also called the spout.
Blowhole : In cetaceans, the single or paired respiratory opening.
Blowhole crest : An elevated area in front of the blowholes of many large whales, which prevents water from pouring in during respiration.
Blubber : An insulating layer of fat beneath the skin of most marine mammals.
Bow-riding : Riding on the pressure wave in front of a ship or large whale.
Brackish Water : Slightly less salty than sea water.
Breach : To leap through the water surface. -- Breaching - The act of leaping out of the water and crashing back with a splash.
Bulbous : Rounded; resembling a bulb in shape.
Bull : Adult male cetacean.
C
Calf : A baby cetacean that is still being nursed by its mother.
Callosity : An area of roughened skin or horny growth on the head of a Right Whale.
Cape : In some cetaceans; a dark area usually on top of the head or on the back in front of the dorsal fin.
Cardiform Teeth : Sharp teeth that are closely set in rows and look like the bristles of a brush.
Caudal : Petaining to the tail.
Caudal Fin : The fin on the hindmost part of the body.
Cephalic : Pertaining to the head.
Cetacean : A marine mammal belonging to the Latin order Cetacea, which includes all whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Circumpolar : Ranging around either pole.
Compressed : Flattened from side to side so that the animal is higher than wide.
Continental Shelf : The submerged, relatively flat and gently sloping part of a continent extending from shore to about 100 fathoms.
Cow : Adult female cetacean.
Cusp : A pointed projection on a tooth.
D
Decurved : Curved downward.
Depressed : Flattened from top to bottom so that the animal is wider than high.
Dermal Ridge : A ridge of skin.
Dolphin : A relatively small cetacean with (usually) a curved dorsal fin; also used interchangably with 'porpoise' as a general term.
Dorsal : Pertaining to the back or upper surface of the body.
Dorsal Fin : The fin along the midline of the back.
Dorsal ridge : A hump or ridge which takes the place of a dorsal fin on some cetaceans.
E
Echolocation : A system used by cetaceans to navigate, orientate and find food by way of sending out signals and interpreting the returning echoes.
Emarginate : Notched, but not deeply forked..
F
Falcate : Strongly curved or lunate.
Fathom : A unit of measurement used to indicate water depth, and equal to 1.8m (6 feet).
Flippers : In cetaceans, the forelimbs.
Flipper-slapping : Raising a flipper out of the water and slapping it onto the surface.
Flukes : In cetaceans, the horizontally positioned tail fin, resembling the tail of a fish, but not as vertical.
Fluking : The act of raising the flukes into the air upon diving.
Forked : Shaped like a fork; cleft or sharply angled.
Fusiform : Spindle-shaped, tapering toward ends.
G
H
Herd : A co-ordinated group of cetaceans (term is most often used when referring to baleen whales).
Homocercal Fin : A caudal fin with lobes of about the same size.
I
J
Juvenile : A young cetacean that is no longer a calf but is not yet sexually mature.
K
Keel : A sharp ridge usually located just in front of the flukes.
Krill : Shrimplike crustaceans occurring in huge numbers in the open seas, and eaten by baleen whales.
L
Lobe : A rounded projection.
Lobtail : In cetaceans, to slap the flukes on the water's surface, making a loud splash.
Locally common : Uncommon or absent over most of range, but relatively common in one or more specific localities.
Logging : Lying still at or near the surface.
Lunate : Crescent-shaped.
M
Mass stranding : The stranding of three or more cetaceans.
Median Fins : The unpaired fins - dorsal, and caudal.
Melon: In many toothed whales, the bulging forehead, often containing oil.
Mesopelagic : Living in the midwaters of the open ocean.
Migration : Regular journeys between one region and another, usually associated with breeding and feeding cycles, or seasonal or climatic change.
Mysticeti : A suborder of the Order Cetacea, containing baleen whales only.
N
Nape : The area along the back between the head and the dorsal fin.
Nasal : Pertaining to the nostrils and the surrounding area.
Nostril : Referring to the physical hole where breathing takes place (in most cetaceans this is referred to as a blowhole.
Notch : V-shaped cut or indentation.
O
Oblique : Slanting.
Occiput : The hindmost edge of the top of the head, where the head joins the nape.
Oceanic : Anywhere in the ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf.
Odontoceti : A suborder of the Order Cetacea, containing all toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises.
P
Pack-ice : A mass of floating pieces of ice driven together to form a solid layer.
Pantropical : Occurring globally between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Parasite : Organism that benefits from another organism by harming it.
Pelagic : Pertaining to or living in the open waters of seas or large lakes.
Permanent ice : Core areas of ice around both poles which do not melt.
Plankton : Microscopic plants and animals that drift near the surface of open waters.
Plicate : Folded, grooved, or wrinkled.
Pod : A co-ordinated group of cetaceans (term is most often used when referring to large, toothed whales).
Polar : Of the area around the poles.
Population : Group of animals from the same species that is isolated from other such groups and interbreeds over time til this group differ noticeably from other groups.
Porpoise : A small cetacean with a stocky body and an indistinct beak; also used interchangeably with 'dolphin' as a general term.
Porpoising : Leaping out of the water whilst moving forward at speed.
Posterior : Located toward the rear.
Predorsal : Pertaining to the area on the back between the snout and the dorsal fin origin.
Purse Seinging : A fishing method where by a large net is used to encircle a school of fish. The net is slowly pulled in, forcing the fish into a smaller and smaller area until finally the net is hoisted aboard ship. A method which often ensnares dolphins who happen to be in the area feeding on the same fish the fishermen are attempting to catch.
Q
R
Range : The natural distribution of a species, including migratory pathways and seasonal haunts.
Recurved : Curved or bent backward.
Resident : Stays in one area all year round.
Rooster Tail : Forward-angled spray of water formed when certain small cetaceans surface at high speed.
Rorqual : A baleen whale of the genus Balaenoptera (some experts include the Humpback Whale in this category)
Rostrum : In cetaceans, a forward extension of the upper jaw. Adj. rostral.
S
Saddle or Saddle Patch : A blotch or patch of pigment that extends across the midline of the back and onto the sides.
Sargassum : A free-floating brown seaweed that occurs in warm marine environments.
School : A co-ordinated group of cetaceans (term is most often used when referring to dolphins).
Serrated : Saw-toothed or jagged.
Snout : The part of the head extending from the front margin of the eye to the anterior tip of the head.
Sonar : The system used by many cetaceans to echolocate (echolocation).
Sounding dive : A deep (and usually longer) dive after a series of shallow dives.
Species : A group of similiar animals, reproductively isolated from all other such groups and able to breed and produce viable offspring.
Spiracle : An uncommonly used name for the blowhole.
Spout : A visible cloud expelled by a cetacean during exhalation at the water surface; also called the blow.
Spyhopping : Raising the head vertically out of the water, then sinking below the water without a splash. Used to check an area for hazards.
Stranding : The act of a cetacean coming onto land, either alive or dead.
Striations : Narrow, parallel grooves or lines.
Stripe : A thin horizontal line or area of pigment.
Subspecies : A recognisable sub-population of a species.
T
Tail-breaching : The act of throwing the rear portion of the body out of the water amd slapping it sideways onto the surface.
Tail Stock : In cetaceans, the tapered rear part of the body, just in front of the flukes.
Temperate : Mid-latitute regions between the tropics and polar circles, with a mild, seasonally-changing climate; cold temperate regions are nearer the poles, warm temperate, near the equator.
Terete : Slightly tapering at both ends.
Terminal : Located at the tip of the snout; describing the position of the mouth.
Throat grooves : Grooves on the throat present in some whales.
Toothed whale : A suborder of whales, porpoises with teeth, members of the Odontoceti suborder.
Transient : Always on the move rather than mostly in one area (term applies mostly to Orcas)
Transverse : Situated or lying across; crosswise.
Tropical : Pertaining to the low latitudes of the world between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Truncate : Having the edge vertical and straight.
Tubercles : Circular bumps along the flippers, dorsal fins or heads of some cetaceans.
U
V
Ventral : Pertaining to the undersside or lower part of the body.
Ventral Grooves : In some baleen whales, the furrows extending backwards from the chin.
Viviparous Reproduction : Bearing live young that have received nutrients from the mother during development.
W
Wake-riding : Swimming in the frothy wake of a vessel.
Whale : The general term applied to any large cetacean, and a specific one applied to certain smaller ones.
Whalebone : Comb-like plates hanging from the upper jaw of some large whales, used to filter small prey from the water. Otherwise known as baleen.
Whale lice : Small, crab-like parasites that cling to and live upon some species of whale.
Whaling : The intentional hunting and killing of whales for the meat, blubber, oil and other products.
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