What is Whale?
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} {{Paraphyletic group | subheader = {{longitem|An informal group<br>within the infraorder Cetacea}} | name = Whale | image = Southern right whale.jpg | image_alt = Southern right whale | image_caption = Southern right whale | auto = yes | parent = Cetacea | includes = *Parvorder [[Mysticeti]] (baleen whales) *Parvorder [[Odontoceti]] (partially) ** Family [[Monodontidae]] (Arctic whales) ** Superfamily [[Physeteroidea]] (sperm whales) ** Superfamily [[Ziphioidea]] (beaked whales) | excludes = * Family [[Delphinidae]] (dolphins and porpoises) * Superfamily [[Platanistoidea]] (Indian river dolphins) * Superfamily [[Inioidea]] (South American river dolphins) }} [[File:Sperm whale fluke 2.jpg|thumb|230px|a [[Sperm whale]] fluke]] [[File:Walvisvangst bij de kust van Spitsbergen - Dutch whalers near Spitsbergen (Abraham Storck, 1690).jpg|thumb|230px|Dutch whalers near [[Spitsbergen]], by Abraham Storck, 1690]] '''Whales''' are a group of [[cetacea]]n [[mammal]]s that live in the ocean. Like other mammals, they breathe [[oxygen]] from the [[air]], have a small amount of [[hair]], and are [[Temperature regulation|warm blooded]]. There are two basic kinds of whales, and about 100 [[species]].<ref>Mead, James G. and Brownell, Robert L. Jr. 2005. Order Cetacea (pp. 723-743). In Wilson, Don E. and Reeder, DeeAnn M. (eds) ''Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference''. 3rd ed, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. {{ISBN|978-0-8018-8221-0}}. OCLC 62265494</ref> People use the word ''whale'' in different ways. Some use it for all [[Cetacea]]ns including [[dolphin]]s and [[porpoise]]s. These people say that dolphins and porpoises are also whales, because they are also Cetaceans. Others separate out the dolphins and porpoises: common English-speaking people have never called them or thought of them as whales unless they are very large. Actually, there is no clear line between whales and dolphins. Whales have been killed for meat and oil by [[whaler]]s.