The tendons of the fluke elevator muscle are attached to the last few vertebrae of the spine, giving them strength and stability. This is an essential feature of its structure because the epaxial muscle is responsible for raising the massive tail fin against the resistance and weight of the water around it. The top muscle, the epaxial, is larger and stronger than its lower counterpart. Whalers favour these muscles as they provide plenty of boneless meat with no inedible trimmings. The epaxial muscle mass pulls the tail upwards, while the hypaxial mass draws it back down to facilitate its swimming movement. These two masses are the epaxial mass (also known as the back muscle because it lies along the upper length of the back bone) and the hypaxial mass (or under fillet), which is situated on the underside of the whale’s body. The fluke’s muscles are arranged in two masses. Unlike fish, which have tails that move from side to side (vertically), the whale’s fluke moves up and down, or horizontally, in powerful strokes. The tail fin, formally known as the fluke, is a powerful fin that works primarily to propel the animal forward. To a larger extent, though, their fins (particularly their tails) enable these magnificent mammals to move with such apparent elegance. This movement and propulsion is facilitated, to some extent, by the movement of its body. Still, whales are able to glide through the ocean’s waters gracefully and with ease. The whale’s body is, in relation to so many other mammals, bulky, weighty and, usually, quite enormous.
0 kommentar(er)
