Cetacean

Humpback whales, a type of terran cetacean

Cetaceans are a classification of aquatic mammals which include whales, dolphins and porpoises.

As the second-most intelligent order on Earth after primates, cetaceans have had a long history interaction with humanity, although as of 2380, a method of bilingual communication remained elusive.

By the 24th century cetaceans were found among the crews of Federation starships (TNG reference: Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual), however, relations between humanity and the cetacea were not always so successful, in the 21st century the humans of Earth were responsible for the extinction of several cetacean species. These ill deeds would come back to haunt Earth when in 2286 a probe from a distant cetacean species visited Earth to try and re-establish contact with then extinct humpback whales. The Probe would have destroyed the planet, but fortunately Admiral Kirk and his crew were able to secure a pair of humpbacks; George and Gracie, from 1986, to re-establish the species on Earth and satisfy the desires of the alien probe which departed Earth after a brief communication with the whales. (TOS movie: The Voyage Home; TOS novel: Probe)

By the late 24th century, Earth had a population of 8.1 million cetaceans (ST reference: Star Charts), including Orcas which were commonly found in Alaska and New Zealand. (TNG novel: Power Hungry)

A number of alien animals and races were classified as cetaceans. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

Cetacean classification

• Baleen whales
  • Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
• Toothed whales
  • Dolphins
    • Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
      • Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. truncatus gillii)
    • Orca (Orcinus orca)
      • Takaya's whale (Orcinus orca takayai)
  • Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)

Cetacean races

• Delphine
• Psyll
• Selm

External links

• Cetacean article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Cetacea article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.