"That's what humans call them." Takata, the killer whale, explained. I don't know whether he meant "sperm whale" or "dentures."
Whales are divided into toothed whales and baleen whales. As the name suggests, toothed whales are whales with traditional cone-shaped teeth. Most of these whales are traditional predators, feeding on larger creatures.
The baleen whale is different. The teeth of the baleen whale have completely degenerated. They are replaced by fine baleen in the mouth. Different from the teeth made of calcium phosphate, the main component of the baleen is keratin - from this point of view, the baleen of the baleen whale
Closer to "hair".
Baleen whales will swallow seawater in large mouths, and then lift their tongues to squeeze the seawater out from between the mouths. The seawater passes through the whale, and the baleen whales will intercept a large number of plankton in the seawater. From water fleas invisible to the naked eye, to bodies nearly meters long
Baleen whales can eat basically anything from medium to large fish.
Sperm whales are large toothed whales whose staple food is large molluscs - such as large deep-sea squid represented by the king physalis squid and giant squid. They also have super diving abilities. Deep-sea squids are not very athletic.
The sperm whale has basically no ability to resist. The huge head of the sperm whale, which occupies one third of the body, is actually occupied by a considerable part of the oil. This huge cavity is also the organ through which they release powerful ultrasonic waves.
But in comparison, the sperm whale's lower jaw is very, very small.
Compared with his huge forehead, it was pitifully small.
"Ah, that's right, so Hopkins' mandibles are also artificial." The killer whale sighed: "If the size of the mouth is not artificially expanded, they will not be able to eat enough."
Typical baleen whales, such as blue whales, have a huge mouth. Even this is not enough. There are many folds between the lower jaw and the abdomen of the blue whale. This allows this part of the limb to expand widely. The blue whale
It can swallow a large amount of seawater in one gulp and then slowly filter out the tiny organisms inside.
But the sperm whale's little squid-sucking mouth is simply not capable of such a thing.
Even if an artificial jaw is installed, it won't work.
The solution to this problem is prosthetic transformation.
Humans use a technique similar to "ostomy" to make several openings at the end of the mouths of sperm whales such as Hopkins. These openings bypass important blood vessels and body cavities, and there are also a large number of baleen-like structures on the inside of the mouth.
Filter.
They are also filter-feeding organisms. Cartilaginous fish like whale sharks do not need to use baleen to filter seawater. The gill rakes possessed by sharks can be slightly modified to undertake similar tasks. Whale sharks only need to swallow large mouthfuls of water to do it.
Similar thing with baleen whales.
Some predatory sharks even use "gulps of water" as a means of speeding up.
These modified sperm whales can also master similar methods after some training.
These standardized giant toothed whales, under the influence of prosthetics and modifications, completely changed their feeding habits and even swam faster and more powerfully than their ancestors.
After hearing this, Xiangshan was amazed at the humans behind these whales.
These whales gained wisdom after the No. 1 infection incident. Due to limited manpower, people who originally tried to preserve fire for the biosphere would prioritize rescuing animals that were "more likely to be saved."
At that time, the most mature standardization process was the standardization surgery of Homo sapiens. In other words, the closer an animal is to humans, the less difficult it is to save it.
The success rate of saving whales is much greater than that of saving sharks.
These whales only acquired their current wisdom after the sharks became extinct. Even if the first generation of whales still remember the stories of their ancestors, it would be difficult for them to describe animals such as whale sharks in detail from a scientific perspective, let alone use it as a basis.
The basic design is based on the physical transformation of a whale.
The experiences and stories passed down from generation to generation by human ancestors were unconsciously processed into myths by humans in the pre-literate era. A hero who is famous in myths and has made many achievements may have his heroic deeds from more and older myths.
Heroes. And the original bodies of those heroes are more forgotten ancestors.
"Perhaps Hercules' legendary feat of hunting and skinning the giant Nemean lion came from the chatter of a chief who had hunted a large lion and boasted to his descendants about the proud events in his life." A friend once told Xiang Shan.
Describe it this way.
If humans are like this, it goes without saying that the whales before they acquired intelligence are also like this.
While Xiang Shan was thinking, a killer whale let out a whimper. He seemed to be too hungry to bear it. Then, the sperm whale at the foot of Xiang Shan also cried twice.
The killer whale named Rinaldo turned and went under the sperm whale.
Xiangshan asked curiously: "What is this?"
"Eat milk." Kledich explained: "The milk of large whales is the only food source we can obtain stably. Although electrical energy has replaced most of the energy generated by breathing, the physical body still has a need for nutrients. Now
There are not many big fish that dolphins can hunt in the sea..."
The protein and fat of the whale community depend entirely on the milk of these large whales.
These large whales have also been genetically modified to secrete milk regardless of whether they are raising calves. The milk of whales is also very different from that of land animals. The milk of whales has a very high fat content. If it is placed in seawater, it will not disappear for a while.
The method is transformed. Moreover, whales can rely on their own power to eject milk, instead of requiring their calves to actively suck it like land mammals.
These large whales rely on their physical strength to travel long distances to different sea areas to filter and feed on plankton. In this era of mass extinction, the biological density of the ocean is extremely low. If they only feed in one place, it is easy to destroy the local animals.
Eat to the point of extinction, so the large whales have to do this.
Sometimes, they also need to bring the growing killer whales that eat the most and need food the most.
Adult killer whales will take the initiative to undergo complete prosthetic transformation to completely get rid of hunger. However, these immature killer whales are similar to humans. If they undergo complete prosthetic transformation too early, it will lead to a fierce conflict between instinct and prosthetic body, leading to huge consequences.
psychological problems.
Moreover, adult killer whales are too ferocious, but for young killer whales, the sperm whale transformed into a baleen whale can calm them down simply by virtue of their physical strength. Even if they lose their minds, it is not scary.
Xiang Shan sighed: "What did you think about...living together?"
"We are the only ones who have survived." Kledich said: "There are only single digits of large whales, and they belong to different populations. They are passed down from generation to generation relying on cloning technology. They are also afraid of being alone. And we are also afraid of being alone.
I can't live without them. I have no choice but to be together."