How Do Whales Keep Warm?

General Overview

Whales are large mammals that reside in the oceans and are also called cetaceans.
Whales are classified into two groups based on their dental makeup. One group is known as baleen whales because instead of teeth to bite and chew, they filter plankton through sieve-like structures called baleen. The other group is classified as toothed whales because they have sharp, bony teeth with which to tear and eat their food.
Whales are warm-blooded creatures that breathe air through lungs and do not have gills, though they are capable of holding their breath for up to two hours. Their bodies are streamlined like fish, and their front flippers resemble paddles. A whale's lifespan is anywhere between 40 to 90 years.

How They Keep Warm

Whales are warm blooded, which means that their body temperature is automatically regulated to maintain fairly warm levels. Whales also keep warm in the cold ocean waters thanks to a thick layer of fat, called blubber, beneath their skin. The thickness of blubber varies but is thickest in whales that live in the Arctic, where it can be up to 50 cm thick.
This thick layer of fat insulates the whale from the cold water surrounding it and enables it to maintain a normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. The blubber also keeps the warmth generated by the whales' metabolism from escaping the body.

Blubber

Blubber is a thick, collagen-laced layer of fat that covers the entire body of the whale except for flippers and other appendages. In addition to helping whales keep warm, blubber also stores energy for later use by the whale. Whales are born with a certain amount of blubber, which grows in thickness as the whale matures. When a whale consumes foods rich in fat such as squid and shrimp, part of the fat is stored to create blubber.