Do whales, dolphines and porpoises all belong in the same taxonomic family?

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are all members of the same taxonomic order. The order is called cetaceans, which are mammals that are warm-blooded but have little hair.

Cetaceans spend their entire lives in the water and there are currently more than 70 species of dolphins, whales and porpoises in the world's oceans. These animals are divided into two groups, baleen whales and toothed whales.

All the members of the cetacean group use echolocation and behave in similar ways. They all breach, raise their tails out of the water, slap their tails in the water and stick their heads straight up out of the water in a behavior called spyhopping. Spyhopping allows the animals to view their surroundings.