Whale Bone

Baleen

Baleens or baleen plates are triangular sheets of keratin that make up a filter-feeding system inside the mouth of baleen whales. The feeding process starts as the animal opens its mouth to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out through a rack of baleen plates, so as to retain (filter) what will serve as food for the whale. A baleen is similar to a bristle and consists of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails, skin and hair. Some whales, such as the bowhead whale, have baleen of differing lengths. Other whales, such as the gray whale, only use one side of their baleen. These baleen bristles are arranged in plates across the upper jaw of whales.

Whale

Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, cladistic perspective. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest non-cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses, from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have had their last common ancestor around 34 million years ago. Mysticetes include four extant (living) families: Balaenopteridae, Balaenidae, Cetotheriidae, and Eschrichtiidae. Odontocetes include the Monodontidae, Physeteridae, Kogiidae, and Ziphiidae, as well as the six families of dolphins and porpoises which are not considered whales in the informal sense.

Bone

A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, help regulate acid-base homeostasis, provide structure and support for the body, and enable mobility and hearing. Bones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have complex internal and external structures.

Shades of white

Shades of white are colors that differ slightly from the CIE standard illuminant D65, a white point that represents the average color of daylight at noon. There isn't one objectively pure white, as noon daylight varies by location and atmospheric conditions, and the choice of using D65 instead of direct sunlight or a white point on the Planckian locus is arbitrary. For simplicity, this article will use the term pure white for the D65 white point.

whale

Noun

1. Any large cetacean, usually with the exclusion of dolphins and porpoises.
2. Any species of Cetacea, including dolphins and porpoises.

Verb

1. To hunt for whales.

bone

Noun

1. A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
2. Any of the components of an endoskeleton, made of this material.

Adjective

1. Of an off-white colour, like the colour of bone.