Whale

George and Gracie sing — Two humpback whales

Calf redirects here; for the lower part of a leg, please see calf (anatomy).

"They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all..."

– James T. Kirk, quoting Whales Weep Not! by D.H. Lawrence, 1986 (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

A whale was a large aquatic cetacean mammal native to the oceans of Earth. A young whale was called a calf.

According to Dr. Gillian Taylor, a Human whale biologist, she had "a notorious weakness for hard luck cases, that's why I work with whales." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Biology[]

Whales originally evolved from land mammals and were among the largest species to ever live on Earth. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home wall poster) According to Dr. Taylor, "The first commonly held misconception is that whales are fish. They're not, they're mammals just like you and me. Warm-blooded, needing air to breathe and producing milk to nurse their young." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) Their streamlined, "fish-like" appearance allowed for easier swimming and diving. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home wall poster)

Furthermore, whales generally did not attack other animals, as "[..] most whales don't even have teeth. They have a soft gum-like tissue that strains vast amounts of tiny shrimp for food and that is the limit of their hostility." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

On Earth, whales communicated though a collection of sounds known as whale song, which would be passed from one another. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

A sperm whale's intestines created a concretion known as ambergris that was once used to stabilize the scent of perfumes. (TAS: "The Ambergris Element")

Whale blubber was at one time used as an energy source. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home wall poster)

History[]

Whales appeared on Earth nearly ten million years before Humans. By the late 20th century, Humans still knew very little about whales. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

The Biblical figure Jonah was said to have been swallowed by a whale, and remained for three days in its belly. (VOY: "One Small Step")

A whale that attacked Humans was the main element in the Earth book Moby Dick, the prey for Captain Ahab. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: First Contact)

Whaling was the hunting of whales. According to Dr. Taylor that "Since the dawn of time, men have harvested whales for a variety of purposes, most of which can be achieved synthetically at this point. One hundred years ago, using hand-thrown harpoons, man did plenty of damage, but that is nothing compared to what he has achieved in this century [...] whales hunted to the brink of extinction." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

This was especially true of humpback and blue whales. Taylor further explained that "[d]espite all attempts at banning whaling, there are still countries and pirates currently engaged in the slaughter of these inoffensive creatures." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

In 1986, the Cetacean Institute in Sausalito, California was the only museum on Earth that was exclusively devoted to whales. Indeed, among its features included regular showings of the film The Wonderful World of Whales in its marine theater.

Cetacean Institute bus ad — Cetacean Institute ad

The facility also had the largest seawater tank on Earth where, and for a time, it held George and Gracie, two humpbacks that had wandered into San Francisco Bay while still calves. They were generally underfunded– in so much as they were unable to afford to feed George and Gracie the required two-tons of shimp per day invited– and pursuaded potential guests to visit and "Have a Whale of a Good Time!" (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Due to their extreme intelligence, there was a time during the 20th century when attempts were made by the US military that "[tried] to teach whales to retrieve torpedoes," or similar tasks Dr. Talyor deemed as "some dipshit stuff like that." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

In 2286, an alien Whale Probe visited Earth attempting to reestablish communications with the previously extinct humpback whale species. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

By 2381, Starfleet had whales and dolphins serving among its ranks. Among those who served were to beluga whales– Lieutenants Kimolu and Matt– who served in Cetacean Ops. (LD: "First First Contact", et al.)

Whale species[]

Cetaceans — Various species of Earth whales

Non-Earth "whales"[]

External link[]

Whale at Wikipedia