5 Things You Didn't Know About Whale Flippers

Text For Sight Readers:

1. Flippers are modified hands. They have finger bones, too!
   
2. Flippers don't propel. A whale's tail does that. Flippers are used to steer, balance, and stop.
3. Flippers don't contain blubber. That's because whales adjust blood circulation in the flippers to release or conserve body heat.
   
4. Flippers communicate. Sometimes, splashing is a flirty way of saying, “Check me out!”
   
5. ​Bumpy for a reason. Bumps, or tubercules, on the edges of Humpback whale flippers increase hydrodynamic efficiency.

19 Inches: Bottlenose Dolphin
4 Feet: Common Minke Whale
5 Feet: Gray Whale
8 Feet: Sperm Whale
10 Feet: Blue Whale
16 Feet: Humpback Whale




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