Mona's Glossary
Baleen:
Sheets of horny substance hanging from the upper jaws of
one group of whales, and used to to strain out of the
water the tiny organisms on which the animals feed.
Dorsal:
The back of a whale or a fish.
Echolocation: A
process used by an animal to avoid obstacles by making
ultrasonic sounds that are echoed back and that thus
indicate the distance and direction of objects.
Flukes:
The front forelimbs of the whales, dolphins, and
porpoised used by the animals for balancing, steering,
and braking.
Longevity:
Length of life.
Migrate: To
move from one place to another.
Plankton:
Floating masses of tiny plant and animal matter, food for
some whales and other sea creatures. The whalers' name
for it is krill because the little crustacean often makes
up a large part of it.
Whaling:
The trade or occupation of hunting and killing whales for
the blubber, whalebone, etc.
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