A whale breathes air through a blowhole on the top of its head. A whale's spout is a puff of air from its breath, not a spray of water from its body. A blue whale's spout can shoot up about 30 feet into the air. Whales hold their breath for many minutes on a dive. It is 7 to 30 minutes for many whales and an hour or more for deep divers like sperm whales.

A sperm whale's head is huge. It is about one-third of the whale's body length. The head holds 3 to 4 tons of an oily substance called spermaceti. These whales dive deeper than 2,000 feet and can stay under for 45 minutes or longer.

Baleen whales have no teeth in their mouths. Plates called baleen hang from the upper jaw. They work like a sieve, so water goes out and food stays in. A bowhead whale has the longest baleen plates of any whale. They are about 3 to 4.5 meters (10 to 15 feet) long.

The fin whale is one of the fastest whales. It can cruise at nearly 23 miles per hour. Fin whales eat krill, small fish and squid. One can eat up to 2 tons of food in a day.

Whales are warm-blooded mammals, and whale mothers feed their babies milk. A blue whale calf drinks so much rich milk that it can gain about 200 pounds in one day.

Killer whales, also called orcas, live in family groups called pods. Orcas hunt together as a team. A female orca can live up to about 90 years. Males usually live fewer years than females.

Gray whales grow to about 40 to 50 feet long. They weigh roughly 40 tons or more.

Beluga whales use their ears and sound to find their way and to hunt, because they can echolocate.

Narwhals live in the cold Arctic Ocean, and they eat Arctic fish, squid and shrimp.

Words to know

• spermaceti: an oily substance
• baleen: hanging plates
• echolocate: find by sound

The short version

Whales breathe air through a blowhole on the top of the head and hold their breath on dives for many minutes. Sperm whales dive deeper than 2,000 feet and can stay under for 45 minutes or longer. Baleen whales have no teeth. A bowhead whale has the longest baleen plates of any whale.

Quick facts

• A whale breathes air through a blowhole on the top of its head.
• Whales hold their breath for many minutes on a dive: 7 to 30 minutes for many whales and an hour or more for deep divers like sperm whales.
• Sperm whales dive deeper than 2,000 feet and can stay under for 45 minutes or longer.
• The fin whale is one of the fastest whales and can cruise at nearly 23 miles per hour.
• A female orca can live up to about 90 years.