A sperm whale hunts a squid. Battle of the sea giants (battle of squid and sperm whale). Distinctive features of the kraken
home Those people who flew airplanes and paid attention to the wing iron bird
, while it lands or takes off, you probably noticed that this part begins to change, new elements appear, and the wing itself becomes wider. This process is called wing mechanization.
general information
People have always wanted to drive faster, fly faster, etc. And, in general, this worked out quite well with the airplane. In the air, when the device is already flying, it develops enormous speed. However, it should be clarified here that a high speed rate is acceptable only during direct flight. During takeoff or landing, the opposite is true. In order to successfully lift a structure into the sky or, conversely, land it, high speed is not needed. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that acceleration will require a huge runway.
The second main reason is the strength limit of the aircraft's landing gear, which will be passed if it takes off in this way. That is, in the end it turns out that for high-speed flights you need one type of wing, and for landing and takeoff - a completely different one. What to do in such a situation? How to create two pairs of wings that are fundamentally different in design for the same aircraft? The answer is no. It was precisely this contradiction that pushed people to a new invention, which was called wing mechanization.
Attack angle
To clearly explain what mechanization is, it is necessary to study another small aspect called the angle of attack. This characteristic has the most direct connection with the speed that the aircraft is capable of developing. It is important to understand here that in flight, almost any wing is at an angle with respect to the flow flowing onto it. This indicator is called the angle of attack.
This layer is the air flow that is in direct contact with the aircraft wing and creates aerodynamic forces. Taking all this into account, a requirement is formed - the presence of high lifting power at low speed and maintaining the required angle of attack in order to fly at high speed. It is these two qualities that the mechanization of an aircraft wing combines.
Improved performance
In order to improve takeoff and landing performance, as well as ensure the safety of the crew and passengers, it is necessary to reduce takeoff and landing speeds as much as possible. It was the presence of these two factors that led wing profile designers to resort to creating large number various devices, which are located directly on the wing of the aircraft. The set of these special controlled devices came to be called wing mechanization in the aircraft industry.
Purpose of mechanization
By using such wings, it was possible to achieve a strong increase in the lifting force of the apparatus. A significant increase in this indicator led to a significant reduction in the aircraft's mileage when landing on the runway, as well as a decrease in the speed at which it lands or takes off. The purpose of wing mechanization is also that it improves the stability and controllability of such a large aircraft as an airplane. This became especially noticeable when the aircraft reached a high angle of attack. In addition, it is worth saying that a significant reduction in the speed of landing and takeoff not only increased the safety of these operations, but also made it possible to reduce the cost of constructing runways, since it became possible to reduce their length.
The essence of mechanization
So, generally speaking, the mechanization of the wing led to significantly improved takeoff and landing parameters of the aircraft. This result was achieved due to a strong increase in the maximum lift coefficient.
The essence of this process is that special devices are added that enhance the curvature of the wing profile of the device. In some cases, it turns out that not only the curvature increases, but also the direct area of this element of the aircraft. Due to changes in these indicators, the streamlining picture completely changes. These factors are decisive in increasing the lift coefficient.
It is important to note that the wing mechanization is designed in such a way that all these parts are controllable in flight. The nuance lies in the fact that at a low angle of attack, that is, when flying in the air at high speed, they are actually not used. Their full potential is revealed precisely during landing or takeoff. Currently, there are several types of mechanization.
Shield
The shield is one of the most common and simplest parts of a mechanized wing, which quite effectively copes with the task of increasing the lift coefficient. In the wing mechanization scheme, this element is a deflecting surface. When retracted, this element is almost flush against the bottom and rear of the aircraft wing. When this part is deflected, the maximum lift of the vehicle increases because the effective angle of attack changes, as well as the concavity or curvature of the profile.
In order to increase the efficiency of this element, it is structurally designed so that when it is deflected, it moves backward and at the same time towards the trailing edge. It is this method that will give the greatest efficiency in suction of the boundary layer from the upper surface of the wing. In addition, the effective length of the zone increases high blood pressure under the wing of an airplane.
Design and purpose of aircraft wing mechanization with slats
It is important to note right away that a fixed slat is mounted only on those aircraft models that are not high-speed. This is explained by the fact that this type of design significantly increases drag, and this sharply reduces the possibility aircraft develop high speed.
Flaps
The wing mechanization scheme with flaps is one of the oldest, since these elements were among the first to be used. The location of this element is always the same; they are located on the rear of the wing. The movement they perform is also always the same, they always go straight down. They can also extend back a little. Having this simple element in place has proven to be very effective in practice. It helps the aircraft not only during takeoff or landing, but also when performing any other maneuvers during piloting.
The type of this element may vary somewhat depending on what it is used on. The wing mechanization of the TU-154, which is considered one of the most common types of aircraft, also has this simple device. Some aircraft are characterized by the fact that their flaps are divided into several independent parts, while others have one continuous flap.
Ailerons and spoilers
In addition to those elements that have already been described, there are also those that can be classified as secondary. The wing mechanization system includes such minor parts as ailerons. The operation of these parts is carried out differentially. The most commonly used design is that on one wing the ailerons are directed upward, and on the other they are directed downward. In addition to them, there are also elements such as flaperons. Their characteristics are similar to flaps; these parts can deviate not only in different directions, but also in the same direction.
Interceptors are also additional elements. This part is flat and is located on the surface of the wing. The deflection, or rather the rise, of the interceptor is carried out directly into the flow. Because of this, there is an increase in flow deceleration, and therefore the pressure on the upper surface increases. This leads to the fact that the lifting force of this particular wing decreases. These wing elements are sometimes also called aircraft lift control elements.
It is worth saying that this is quite a brief description of all structural elements of the aircraft wing mechanization. In reality, it uses a much larger variety of small parts, elements that allow pilots to fully control the process of landing, takeoff, the flight itself, etc.
- Type: Mollusca Linnaeus, 1758 = Molluscs, soft-bodied
- Class: Cephalopoda Cuvier, 1797 = Cephalopods
- Squad: Teuthida Naef, 1916 = Squid
Squid and whale
Read about cephalopods: * "Hatching" eggs with squids * Reproduction of deep sea squids * Vatasenia - firefly squid
Soviet whale specialist B. A. Zenkovich writes in his book “Whales and Whaling” that once at sea his attention was attracted by the unusual behavior of a sperm whale. The whale, as if in its death throes, either jumped out of the water or spun around the surface. The sailors noticed that his body was entangled in the tentacles of a huge squid. The sperm whale grabbed the mollusk in its mouth and tried to swallow it, but the tentacles attached to the whale’s head got in the way. To throw them off, the sperm whale spun wildly and jumped out of the water. He managed to free himself from the tenacious lasso, and he tore and swallowed the squid. When the ship approached the battle site, the sperm whale dived under the water. The few tentacles of the torn squid he had lost slowly sank in the foaming waves.
It is, of course, difficult to believe that octopuses feed on hundred-ton whales. No one has found whale remains in their stomachs. True, squid “chew” their food so thoroughly that it enters the esophagus and stomach in the form of finely ground gruel.
In addition to the predatory beak, squids also have a “grater” in their mouths made of hundreds of tiny horny cloves, with which they prepare their “puree” from fish or crabs. Therefore, it is very difficult to judge the composition of squid food by the contents of their stomachs. On the contrary, the sperm whale's menu is clearly presented in its stomach. The sperm whale does not chew its food; it only tears large prey into pieces and swallows small ones whole. In the stomach of a killed sperm whale you can almost always find several dozen
deep sea fish
and half a thousand small squids, usually whole and undamaged (quite suitable for museum collections).
However, very rarely, even in the stomachs of those sperm whales that bear fresh scars on their bodies from wounds received in a battle with octopuses, remains of giant squid are found. The question involuntarily arises: does this not mean that in the irreconcilable enmity of the octopus with the sperm whale, the attacking party is often not the whale, but the monstrous ruler of the gloomy underwater kingdom, into whose possessions the sperm whale invades in search of food? In December 1946, the Norwegian magazine Nature published an interesting report: the tanker Brunswick, an ocean-going vessel with a displacement of 15 thousand tons and a length of 150 m, was subjected to
A huge squid, more than 20 m long, suddenly emerged from the depths and quickly caught up with the ship, which was traveling at a speed of 12 knots (21.6 km per hour). The speed of the squid itself was about 32-40 km per hour. For some time, the squid swam parallel to the ship at a distance of approximately 30 m from its port side. Then he described a semicircle, overtaking the ship, came to the right and, quickly rushing to the attack, grabbed onto the side, delivering strong blows to the hull.
Thus, we return again to the question: is the squid a prey or a hunter? It is possible that in nature this alternative is solved in one way or another, depending on the size of the octopus. It is well known that the sperm whale hunts not only small, but also very large squid up to 10-15 m long. Is it possible that squid twice as large can be dangerous for the sperm whale itself?
The report of Captain Grenning Zeter makes us less distrustful of the legend of whale-eating squids.
Undoubtedly, stories about krakens as large as an island are implausible. And yet the actual size of these animals exceeded all expectations.
Giant squids 10-15 m long are not uncommon.
Centuries have passed since the seventies and until now the sea has washed up more than 80 giant squid on the coasts of Newfoundland, England, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Japan and New Zealand. Almost all of them were 10-15 m in length. The largest measured specimen was the squid studied by Verrill.
We know little about the weight of the largest octopuses. The weight of the “devil fish” with which the French ship Alekton entered into battle was determined by the crew of this ship to be 2-3 tons. Another squid was found dead on the surface of the sea off the coast of Newfoundland. Through the efforts of the entire crew, it was difficult to lift him onto the deck of the schooner. The squid was cut up and weighed in parts.
It turned out that with a body length of only 5 m (without tentacles), it weighed 907 kg. Many people think that the largest animal on the planet is the elephant, but this is not entirely true. The elephant is the largest representative of animals on land, but in the water another creature can compete with it, and its name is whale. In fact, a whale is not a fish, but a mammal. Moreover, it breathes air, like land animals, and therefore cannot remain under water all the time, and occasionally the whale needs to surface to get more oxygen into its lungs. And one of the most big whales
considered to be a sperm whale. Like all mammals, whales are born fully formed individuals. As you grow older baby whale being fed milk
, which, by the way, is much more nutritious than cow meat, and, accordingly, helps whales reach large sizes. The disadvantage of sperm whales is that when they appear on land, they are practically helpless, and most cases when a whale washes up on the shore end very badly. The sperm whale is truly the king and ruler of the seas. Due to its huge size it the animal has practically no enemies
, with the exception of man. The size of a sperm whale ranges from 20 to 22 meters in length; in comparison, 18 elephants can easily fit on the back of such a handsome creature. That is why many are interested in the question of what the sperm whale eats.
Toothed whales Toothed whales are one of the most common species of whales on the planet. They are basically small mammals that feed exclusively on other living things; simply put, they are carnivores. These mammals are small in size, with the exception of the sperm whale, which almost the same size as the largest one blue whale . The word "sperm whale" comes from Portuguese and means "big head". The sperm whale is the only representative of its species and indeed has a very big head
- . They have the following features:
- They live mainly in herds of 80–100 animals and are considered very collective animals.
- Although the sperm whale breathes with its lungs, it can dive to a depth of up to 3000 km, this ability is given to it by its subcutaneous fat, which saves the toothed whale from cold or high pressure. This animal dives to such depths to treat itself to its favorite delicacy - giant squid.
Sperm whale nutrition
Everyday nutrition consists of different products:
- various shellfish;
- octopuses;
- Favorite dish: giant squid.
Squid is the easiest food for a whale to eat, since the size of the prey is usually at least 15 meters in length. Also these whales eat fish, but not often, only in the case when you don’t really have to choose. IN percentage about 5% will come from fish consumption.
You need to understand that the sperm whales, photos of which are presented in the article, dive very deep for a reason. They are not interested in food floating on the surface, e.g. the whale will not even chase the squids located above, and go down after them to a depth of at least 500 meters. This behavior is caused by the fact that there are many competitors at the top, and the sperm whale is not used to chasing food and sharing it with someone.
Hunting
Sperm whales use ultrasonic echolocation to find food. Conditioned this type hunting because the sound emitted by the whale causes the giant clams to go crazy. The spermaceti sac works as an acoustic lens here, which helps the whale detect prey. Let's return to the sperm whale's favorite delicacy - giant squid.
To swallow the treasured prey, the whale will have to try hard, namely fight with a huge opponent. Sperm whales and squids are almost equal in length, and very often in a fight one will definitely kill the other. The body is usually left with huge scars from the squid's tentacles. It is because of them that many animals swim with huge dents or cuts on their faces.
There is a known case when an almost dead squid was taken out of the stomach of a sperm whale. He grabbed the sperm whale with his tentacles and got stuck in his throat in this position. By the way, the weight of this opponent was almost 200 kilograms.
Sperm whales are huge carnivorous whales
Reproduction
Just like in humans, female sperm whales mature earlier than males by exactly 1 year, namely, at 4 years they are ready to reproduce. It often happens that the male can for a long time stay away from the female and appear nearby only at the moment of mating. Males are polygamous and behind each such whale there can be up to 15 females. The baby whale is gestated for about 18 months, and females can usually give birth at any time of the year, with the exception of representatives of the northern hemisphere, which give birth in June - September. A baby whale is born weighing about 1 ton, and almost immediately begins to be suckled by the female.
History of origin
According to the theory, more than 70–75 million years ago, the ancestors of modern sperm whales lived on land. Their body was covered with fur, and instead of today's fins, they had ordinary limbs. Gradually animals moved closer to the water, where they escaped from large quantity predators and other animals. Then they finally moved into the water, where they changed in size, got rid of their fur and became similar to modern whales.
In connection with active fighter activity in the 18th–19th centuries. whales became an endangered species, and soon a moratorium on their hunting was introduced, preventing them from being caught for any purpose. However, they are still at risk from being hit by passing ships, being contaminated by oil refineries, or being washed ashore.