Fun with Quizzes

Are you a Cetacean expert?

Instructions
To pass the test you must answer correctly at least 7 questions out of 10. For each question, one or more answers can be correct and you need to select all the correct options to score a point. Test evaluation is immediate and does not require you to provide any personal data.

1.

Cetaceans can keep their body warm in the water by means of:

A thick layer of proteins under their skin, called blubber

A huge production of heat, due to constant swimming

A thick layer of fat under their skin, called blubber

A special countercurrent blood-vessel system, which limits the quantity of heat lost from their flukes and flippers

2.

The Narwhal has a typical tusk:

Only males and about 3% of females have one

Only females have one

Both males and females have one

No, the Narwhal does not have a typical tusk

3.

The so-called baleen in toothless whales (Mysticeti) serve the purpose of:

Filtering the water and retain food

Filtering the oxygen contained in the water

Chewing preys

Increasing streamlining

4.

Balaena mysticetus is the scientific name for:

Bowhead whale

Humpback whale

It is a synonym with Mysticeti

Great Misty whale

5.

Which of the following assertions about the Gray whale are true?

It performs the longest seasonal migrations between breeding and feeding grounds

It has a higher than average number of parasites

Its scientific name is Eschrichtius robustus

Females are larger than males

6.

The Hector's dolphin is:

One of the smallest of all cetaceans

A dolphin that can only be found in New Zealand waters

A highly endangered species

A close relative of the Hector's beaked whale

7.

Cetaceans are mammals. It follows that:

They cannot be very streamlined

They lay eggs

They need to surface from time to time in order to breathe

They nourish their young with milk

8.

Why is a stranded cetacean in a highly life-threatening condition?

Because it cannot breathe

Because its body design was not conceived by Nature to fully cope with gravity out of the water

Because it cannot efficiently dissipate heat on land (overheating)

Because it quickly gets dehydrated and its skin is also sensitive to the ultraviolet radiations of the sun

9.

Which of the following places are known to be summerly feeding grounds for migrating whales?

Tonga

The Bering Sea

Maldives

Antarctica

10.

Which of the following cetaceans can reach speeds of over 30 km/h?

Southern Right whale

Bottlenose dolphin

Humpback whale

Dall's porpoise