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.

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

Its blow is unique in being projected forward and on the left

It belongs to the suborder Odontoceti

It can dive as deep as 2000 metres (6000 feet)

There is an organ in its head called Spermaceti, containing huge amounts of a waxy substance (which has nothing to do with sperm, though)

2.

Which of the following cetacean species do not have a dorsal fin?

Gray whale

Beluga

Minke whale

Southern Right whale

3.

Who is the current record holder for deep diving among Marine Mammals?

Blue whale

Sperm whale

Elephant Seal

Cuvier's beaked whale

4.

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

It is the most acrobatic of all baleen whales (Mysticeti)

It only inhabits the Northern Hemisphere

It has unusually long, very distinctive flippers (pectoral fins)

Its songs (only males sing) are well known for their complexity and variety

5.

Which of the following cetaceans are only found in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez)?

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Boto (Inia geoffrensis)

Vaquita (Phocoena sinus)

Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

6.

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

7.

The Whale Shark is a shark, not a whale. It follows that:

It is not a mammal

It is a fish

It is not an air breather

It does not suckle its young

8.

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

9.

The number of blowholes in Odontoceti is:

Two

One or two, depending on the species

One

Always one, except the Sperm whale which has two

10.

The Mexican bays and lagoons of San Ignacio, Guerrero Negro and Magdalena are world-famous breeding grounds for:

Humpback whales

Blue whales

Sperm whales

Gray whales