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What Are The Five Major Themes Of Whales

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Biology, the scientific study of life, has five central themes. These themes include organization, information flow, energy-matter, interaction, and evolution. All biological organisms are affected by and contribute to these five major themes. The whale uses all five themes to perform functions essential to their lives.
Many living organisms have been affected by the five major themes of biology. Whales are a strong example of how organisms use these themes. The first theme whales have been affected by is organization. Whales travel in large groups of about 10-20 whales and make noises to communicate, locate food, and find each other. These strategies help them to stay organized. Information flow has affected whales by transferring DNA to …show more content…

Symbiotic relationships are close associations between a pair of species, where at least one species benefits from the relationship. Whales form symbiotic relationships with marine organisms in their ecosystem. They also circulate nutrients and gases throughout their ecosystem for the benefit of these marine organisms. They spread these nutrients through fecal plumes, urine, sloughed skin, and placental materials. This circulation begins with the whale's preexisting symbiotic relationship with phytoplankton. Phytoplankton receive their energy from carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and are very important in carbon cycling. A study of blue whales in Antarctica determined that the iron concentration in the feces of whales is 10 million times more than that of Antarctic seawater. This abundance of iron triggers the blooming of phytoplankton, which helps remove carbon from the ocean. Whales also interact with other species through their carcasses. When a whale's carcass drops to the sea floor, it provides a habitat for many species that only exist on these whale falls.
Due to the significant loss of whales to commercial whaling, current populations of large baleen whales store 9.1 million tonnes less carbon than their numbers were before the surge of commercial whaling. If whale populations restore, they will remove 160,000 tonnes of carbon yearly through whale …show more content…

Whales are very social organisms and travel in pods to interact with species in their ecosystem. Whales travel in pods to find food, secure mates, and protect against predators. Their social nature encourages them to interact with their ecosystem.
Whales are affected by the theme of interaction and use it to work together with other organisms for the better of their ecosystem. They interact with other species as predators, and prey, and circulate nutrients throughout the ecosystem for other organisms.
The fifth biological theme, evolution, has affected whales throughout their existence. Evolution is the change of heritable traits in a species over several generations. The four main components of evolution are variation, inheritance, selection, and time. These components of evolution and natural selection allow for species to adapt to the ecosystems they inhabit. These components have affected whales throughout their existence as a species.
Whales evolved from four-legged ungulate ancestors that lived on land about 50 million years ago. Ungulates are hooved animals. Modern-day ungulates include hippopotamus, giraffes, deer, pigs, and cows. For 8 million years, whale ancestors moved to the sea and gradually evolved into swimming marine

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