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 members of the Balaenopteridae family are known to prefer warm waters year round?

Blue whale

Minke whale

Bryde's whale

Fin whale

3.

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

4.

Which of the following baleen whales are unmistakable because of their typical V-shaped blow?

Gray whale

Right whale

Minke whale

Humpback whale

5.

Talking about evolution, the reason(s) why Cetaceans have almost completely lost their body hair since the time they were land mammals is (are):

Life in the ocean is so psychologically stressful

A fur is not as effective to keep a body warm in the water as it is on land

To increase streamlining

To avoid looking like seals and being hunted

6.

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)

7.

Herman Melville's white whale in the novel Moby Dick was actually:

A Great White Shark

A Whale Shark

A Sperm whale

A Blue whale

8.

What is echolocation?

A natural occurring sonar system, extensively used by toothed whales

It is synonym with radar

The ability to locate a prey using natural biomagnetism

The use of electric fields to locate both preys and predators

9.

Which species among the following has disappeared from the North Atlantic due to whaling?

Gray whale

Narwhal

Common dolphin

Vaquita

10.

The diet of Mysticeti (toothless whales) includes:

Copepods

Krill

Small fish

Marine mammals