SPECIES LIST

Kingdom-- Animalia
The animals.

Phylum-- Chordata
Animals with dorsal nerve cord and notochord.

Subphylum-- Vertebrata
Vertebrae surround the spinal cord.

Class-- Mammalia
Characteristics of mammals:

• bear live young (two exceptions: Duckbilled Platypus and Spiny Anteater);
• nurse young with milk through mammary glands;
• have fur or hair in at least some stage of development;
• are warm-blooded, breathe air with lungs and have a four-chambered heart.

Order-- Cetacea
Derived from the Latin word cetus (Greek word ketos), which means whale. The order includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The following whales live in or pass through the coastal waters of British Columbia.

Suborder-- Mysticeti (Baleen Whales)

The baleen whale has a symmetrical skull and a pair of nostrils, called blowholes, that open on the top of the head in two longitudinal slits. The whale breathes air through its blowholes when it surfaces. Baleen whales are filter feeders - they eat small organisms that get caught in their baleen plates. A series of baleen plates hang side by side from the roof of the mouth. Each plate is fringed by coarse hairs, and together the fringes form sieves that catch the small fish, crustaceans and plankton that form the usual diet of baleen whales.

Mysticeti - the scientific name for baleen whales - is derived from the Greek words mystax, meaning moustache, and ketos, meaning whale.

Family - Balaenidae (Right Whales)
Northern Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

Family-- Balaenopteridae (Rorquals)
Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)

Family-- Eschrichtiidae (Gray Whales)
Grey Whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Suborder-- Odontoceti (Toothed Whales)

The toothed whale has a slightly asymmetrical skull and a single nostril - the blowhole - located near the top of the head. The whale breathes air through the blowhole when it surfaces. The toothed whales are named for their teeth: their scientific name, Odontoceti, is derived from the Greek odontos, meaning tooth, and ketos, meaning whale. But some species in this suborder - the beaked whales - have few if any teeth. Even those with many teeth use them only for snatching and holding on to prey, and not for chewing; these whales swallow their food whole. Toothed cetaceans feed mostly on squid, fish and larger aquatic animals, catching their prey one at a time.

Family-- Physeteridae (Sperm Whales)
Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon)
Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus)

Family-- Ziphiidae (Beaked Whales)
North Pacific Bottle-nosed Whale (Berardius bairdii)
Goose-beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
Bering Sea Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri)
Arch-beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi)

Family-- Delphinidae (Dolphins)
Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
Saddle-backed Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
Pacific White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
Northern Right-whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis)
Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)

Family-- Phocoenidae (Porpoises)
Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)