>I am a student in the 6th Grade in Sri Lanka and I need some
>information on whales.
>Could you tell me why upthrust is important to the whale and why the
>whale gets into serious trouble when it is beached?
Good to hear from Sri Lanka. I studied whales off northeast Sri Lanka
in the early 1980s with Steve Leatherwood.
I need a little more information regarding what you mean by
'upthrust.' My experience associates that term with geology, which is
not directly a concern of whales.
As for the second question, whales are designed to float in water.
They are also relatively big and heavy. (Fat floats) When on a beach
their weight puts pressure on their internal organs. Imagine yourself
being squeezed by your parents -- it can be hard to breathe. They are
also designed to be thermal neutral in water. On land and in the sun
they will become much too warm and go into heat stroke. It's the
opposite of you being stranded in the water -- after a time you'd
become hypothermic (loose too much body heat) because you are not
adapted for life in the cool ocean water.
Cheers,
Pieter Folkens
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