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.

In presence of a stranded cetacean, the following actions should be taken:

Gently try to drag the whale or dolphin back to the water

Immediately call the local authorities and experts

Keep the skin of the animal wet

Carefully try to keep the blowhole (or blowholes) free of sand or other materials

2.

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

Gray whale

Right whale

Minke whale

Humpback whale

3.

What is the biggest animal that has ever lived on Earth?

The Sperm whale

The Fin whale

Some dinosaur

The Blue whale

4.

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

Blue whale

Minke whale

Bryde's whale

Fin whale

5.

Some tourists tell you they have seen a mother and calf Gray whale pair in Patagonia:

It could be, but only during the Southern Hemisphere winter

It is impossible, because the Gray whale only inhabits the West coast of South America

It is impossible, because the Gray whale only inhabits the Northern Hemisphere

It is very possible, since the Gray whale is the most sighted cetacean in Patagonia

6.

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

7.

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

8.

Where can Minke whales be observed?

In the Southern Hemisphere only

In both Northern and Southern Hemispheres

In the Northern Hemisphere only

It is sadly already extinct

9.

Which of the following assertions are true?

Cetaceans evolved from land mammals

The ancestors of cetaceans always inhabited the sea

Cetaceans evolved from a now extinct warm-blooded fish

Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are believed to have evolved from reptiles

10.

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

Gray whale

Beluga

Minke whale

Southern Right whale