Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
These whales are widely distributed throughout the world's oceans and migrate every year from cold, plankton-rich high-latitude waters to warm equatorial waters to give birth and breed. In the winter breeding grounds, male humpbacks sing long, complex songs that can repeat for many hours. Their name means "big-winged New Englander" because of their huge flippers--about 5.5 m (17 ft) long--and the first sighting of them off the coast of New England. Unlike toothed whales, humpback whales have baleen plates in their mouths that filter krill and small fish. They gulp a section of water with prey and then expel the water through the baleen, keeping the prey in their mouth and swallowing them. They are usually 12-24 m (36-72 ft) in length.
Sperm whales (Physeter catodon or Physeter marcocephalus)
Sperm whales are the largest toothed whale and have the largest brains on the planet at 9 kg. They can dive more than a mile underwater and stay below the surface for more than an hour. They are found in all oceans of the world including the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea. They eat mostly squid but also various kinds of fish. There is a long-running disagreement whether the scientific name for sperm whales should be macrocephalus, meaning "big head," or catodon, meaning "teeth only in lower jaw." Its common name was given by early whalers and came from the milky, wax substance found in its large head. They can be 20 m (60 ft) in length and weigh almost 60 tons.
