Dictionary

Adult

Sexually mature animal that is (or is almost) fully grown

Beach-Rubbing

Rubbing the body on stones in shallow water near the shore

Beak

Forward-projecting jaws of a cetacean (also known as a snout)

Blaze

Light streaking of colour, usually starting below the dorsal fin and pointing up into the cape

Blow

Cloud of moisture-laden air exhaled by cetaceans; may be used to describe the act of breathing

Blowhole

Nostril(s) on the top of the head

Blubber

Insulating layer of fat beneath the skin of most marine mammals

Bow-Riding

Riding on the pressure wave in front of a large ship or large whale

Breaching

Act of leaping completely (or almost completely) out of the water and landing back with a splash

Bull
Adult male cetacean

Calf

Baby cetacean that is still being nursed by its mother

Callosity

Area of roughened skin or horny growth on the head of a right whale

Cape

Darker region on the back of many cetaceans around the dorsal fin

Cetacean

Marine mammal belonging to the order cetacea, which includes all whales, dolphins and porpoises. From the Latin cetus (meaning large see animal) and the Greek ketos (meaning sea monster).

Cow

Adult female cetacean

Dolphin

Dolphin is a common name of aquatic mammals within the infraorder Cetacea.

Dorsal

Towards the upper side

Dorsal Fin

Raised structure on the back of most cetaceans

Dorsal Ridge

Hump or ridge that replaces a dorsal fin in some cetaceans

Echolocation

System used by many cetaceans to orientate, navigate, and find food by sending out sounds and interpreting the returning echoes

Extant

Still in existence; surviving

Extinct

A species, family, or other group of animals or plants having no living members; no longer in existence

Flipper

Paddle shaped front limb of a cetacean (sometimes known as pectoral fin)

Flipper-Slapping

Raising a flipper out of the water and slapping in onto the surface

Flukes

Horizontally flattened tail of cetaceans (containing no bone)

Fluking

Act of raising the flukes into the air upon diving

Genus

Genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and organisms. Genus comes above species and below family

Herd

Coordinated group of cetaceans (often used in connection with larger baleen whales)

Hydroplaning

A bit like body surfing. Dolphins chase fish into the shallows and then propel their bodies forward in water to seize a fish

Indo
a prefix indicating India or the Indo-Pacific” region: Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste, United States, Vietnam.

IUCN

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. By harnessing the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of some 15,000 experts, IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

Juvenile

Young cetacean that is no longer being nursed by its mother bit is not yet sexually mature

Keel
Distinctive Bulge on the tail stock near the flukes 

Lobtailing

Forceful slapping of flukes against the water, whilst most of the animal lies just under the surface (also known as tail-slapping)

Logging

Lying still / floating at or near the surface

Melon

Bulbous forehead of many toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises; believed to be used to focus sounds for echolocation

Mysticeti

A sub group of the order cetacea that comprise the baleen whales

Necropsy
Traditionally the term “necropsy” has been used to refer to a post-mortem examination on an animal species (autopsy is usually used for human patients)

Oceanic

relating to the ocean

Odontoceti

A sub group of the order cetacea that comprise the toothed whales

Pelagic

Living or occurring in the open sea

Pectoral Fin

Each of a pair of fins situated on either side just behind the head, helping to control the direction of movement during locomotion. They correspond to the forelimbs of other vertebrates

Peduncle-Slapping

Act of throwing the rear portion of the body out of the water and slapping it sideways onto the surface, or another whale (also known as tail breaching)

Rooster tail

Spray of water formed when certain small cetaceans surface at high speed; it is caused by a cone of water coming off the animal's head

Rostrum

Upper jaw of the skull (may be used to refer to the beak or snout)

Saddle-Patch

Light patch behind the dorsal fin on some cetaceans

School

Coordinated group of cetaceans (often used in connection with dolphins)

Splash Guard

Elevated area in front of blow holes, of many larger whales which prevents water from pouring in during respiration

Spyhopping

Raising the head vertically out of the water, then sinking below the surface without much splash

Stranding

Act of a cetacean coming onto land, either alive or dead; mass strandings involves a group of 3 or more animals

Tailstock

Region from just behind the dorsal fin to the flukes (also called Peduncle)

Taxonomy

The scientific discipline used to define and group living things. 

Tubercles

Circular bumps along the edges of the flippers and dorsal fins of some cetaceans (also the knobs on a hump back whale's head)

Vertebrate

An animal of a large group distinguished by the possession of a backbone or spinal column, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish

Wake-Riding

Swimming in the frothy wake of a boat or ship

Whale

Widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea