Australia’s Whale

Australian Post have concerned about the species of Whales, and issued the stamp features that Sperm Whale, Southern Right Whale, Blue Whale, and Humpback Whale on the different nominal value . The stamps have issued on February 17,1982 and designed by Robert and Katrina Ingpen.

The stamp 24c  - Sperm Whale

The Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale (odontocete) having the largest brain of any animal. Sperm whales are the deepest diving whales. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. Spermaceti found many important uses, such as candles, soap, cosmetics and machine oil.

Sperm whales produce ambergris, a dark, waxy substance (related to cholesterol) that is produced in the lower intestines, and is sometimes found containing squid beaks. Ambergris may help protect the sperm whale from the stings on the giant squid, its major food. Large lumps of ambergris may be vomited up by the sperm whale.

The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale, with adult males measuring up to 20.5 metres  long and weighing up to 57,000 kilograms.The sperm whale's distinctive shape comes from its very large head, which is typically one-third of the animal's length. The blowhole is located very close to the front of the head and shifted to the whale's left.This gives rise to a distinctive bushy, forward-angled spray.

The sperm whale's flukes are triangular and very thick. The whale lifts its flukes high out of the water as it begins a dive .Sperm whale teeth are uniform. The teeth in the upper jaw never erupt.

The stamp 35c - Southern Right Whale

The southern right whale  or Eubalaena australis is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena.The right whale's callosities appear white due to large colonies of cyamids (whale lice).Approximately 12,000 southern right whales are spread throughout the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere.

The maximum size of an adult female is 18.5 m and can weigh up to 80 tonnes. The testicles of right whales are likely to be the largest of any animal, each weighing around 500 kg. This suggests that sperm competition is important in the mating process. Right whales cannot cross the warm equatorial waters to connect with the other (sub)species and (inter)breed: their thick layers of insulating blubber make it impossible for them to dissipate their internal body heat in tropical waters.

The stamp 55c - Blue Whale

The blue whale  or Balaenoptera musculus is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales .Blue whales are rorqual whales, whales that have pleated throat grooves that allow their throat to expand during the huge intake of water during filter feeding. Blue whales have 50-70 throat grooves that run from the throat to mid-body.

Blue whales are the loudest animals on Earth! Their call reaches levels up to 188 decibels. This low-frequency whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles. The blue whale is louder than a jet, which reaches only 140 decibels!

The blue whale's skin is usually blue-gray with white-gray spots. The underbelly has brown, yellow, or gray specks. They have a very small, falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsal fin that is located near the flukes (tail). Blue whales have long, thin flippers 8 feet long (2.4 m) and flukes that are 25 feet (7.6 m) wide.

Its diet consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill. Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath.

The stamp 60c - Humpback Whale

The humpback whale  or Megaptera novaeangliae is a species of baleen whale. Adults range in length from 12–16 metres  and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms .The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head.

Humpback whales can easily be identified by their stocky bodies with obvious humps and black dorsal colouring. The head and lower jaw are covered with knobs called tubercles, which are actually hair follicles and are characteristic of the species. The fluked tail, which it lifts above the surface in some dive sequences, has wavy trailing edges.

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Whales of Southern Ocean

 

There are two groups of modern whale: the filter-feeding baleen whales, and the echo-locating toothed whales. Three families of baleen whale are represented in the Southern Ocean (rorqual, right whale and pygmy right whale), and five families of toothed whale (sperm whale, diminutive sperm whale, beaked whale, dolphin and porpoise). 

These fascinating mammals are the focus of the Ross Dependency 2010 stamp issue. Consisting of five large stamps (50mm x 30mm) with differ face value and one miniature sheet.

60c - Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
At up to 18 metres long for males and 12 metres for females, the sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on Earth and probably the most abundant of the large whales. Sperm whales are characterised by their substantial rectangular heads, and have the biggest brains on the planet, weighing in at a hefty 9.5 kilograms.

$1.20 - Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata and B. Bonarensis
The minke whale is the smallest of the rorquals owing to its sharply pointed head, and is often called the ‘little piked whale’. There are two species of minke whale in the Southern Ocean: the Antarctic minke and the dwarf minke. The dwarf minke reaches about eight metres in length and has a distinctive white patch across the flipper.

$1.90 - Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis
The sei whale gets its name from the Norwegian word seje, a small fish that was considered the whale’s preferred prey by Norwegian whalers. The sei whale was regarded by whalers as the sleekest and fastest of all the rorquals. Unlike the other rorquals, sei whales prefer to skim feed at the surface by swimming along with their mouths open.

$2.40 - Killer whale Orcinus orca
Killer whales, sometimes called orca, are toothed whales and the largest members of the dolphin family. They are highly distinctive with their black and white colour patterns, white eye patches and conspicuous dorsal fins. Killer whales are remarkable hunters and are sometimes referred to as the wolves of the sea.

$2.90 - Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae
The humpback whale is famous for its acrobatic leaps and remarkable songs. They reach about 17 metres in length and are easily recognised with their long, narrow flippers. The Southern Ocean humpbacks differ from those of the north Pacific by having considerably more white on their flippers and on the undersides of the throat and belly.

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Cephalopods of South Georgia. 2010

The Cephalopods have many species, around 650 species. The waters of South Georgia are home to 13 species of squid and 6 species of octopus. Cephalopods are most intelligent of the invertebrates, having well-developed senses and large brains. Most cephalopods have three ways to protect against the predator, the first way is to change colour for camouflage since they possess chromatophores, the second way is expel a cloud dark ink through the funnel in the water so make confuse predators, and the last action is move by jet propulsion for escaping possible predators. Squid and cirrate octopods use their tail fins for more routine swimming. Cephalopods usually eat small fish and crustaceans. Most cephalopods have short lives, growing rapidly, reproducing once and then dying.

South Georgia Post has issued the stamp series depicted Cephalopods on April 2010. The stamp series comprised of one set stamp of 4 pieces stamps, one souvenir sheet and 2 pieces of First day Cover.The Cephalopods species which depicted are Galiteuthis glacialis, Psychroteuthis glacialis, Thaumeledone gunteri and Stauroteuthis gilchristi.

Galiteuthis glacialis (27p value) is one of the most abundant and widely distributed of the Antarctic squids. It is a delicate mid-water (pelagic) species that lives from the surface down to around 1 km deep. The stamp depicts a juvenile squid (around 5 cm). Galiteuthis glacialis is eaten by many predators including light mantled sooty albatross, grey-headed albatross and white-chinned petrels.

Psychroteuthis glacialis (65p value)is an active glacial squid, muscular species, which reaches a moderate size of 40 cm body length. The glacial squid is abundant throughout Antarctic waters and South Georgia is at the northern end of its range. Psychroteuthis glacialis is an important prey for many predators including elephant and Weddell seals, wandering and grey-headed albatross and emperor penguins.

Thaumeledone gunteri (90p value) is a small species (less than 10 cm) as one of the incirrate octopods which living between 400 and 700 m all around South Georgia.

Stauroteuthis gilchristi (£1.10p value) is a mid-water species, living at depths of 700-1000 m around South Georgia. The arms of Stauroteuthis gilchristi are connected by thin membranous tissue to form a web and the stamp depicts the octopus expanding the arms and web. This maybe a defensive posture, which makes the octopus appear bigger to possible predators.

The souvenir sheet depicted one stamp of £ 2.0 value depicted the Sperm whale is catching the Colossal squid.