#94 Whales

Everybody is familiar with whales and we have all been astounded at how big they are. The Blue Whale can get up to 112 feet long and weigh 200 tons, as much as 33 elephants. [1]

But do you know that whales are mammals? That means that they are warm blooded and they breathe air. Their babies are born alive and are fed milk. There are at least 40 different known species of whales. [2]

So if you are a faithful believer in Evolution, you somehow have to find a way to believe that whales started out on land and not water. You already believe life started out in the ocean and then evolved by emerging onto the land and evolving into mammals.

Somehow those highly evolved mammals ended up going back into the ocean and becoming the largest animals on earth.

Darwin thought it was the bear that evolved into a whale because he saw them swim a lot. Over the years, evolutionists have come up with other mammals that are the ancestor of whales. Their religious faith in evolution requires that some animal evolved into a whale. Even though there is no known ancestor in the fossil record of the whale, evolutionists claim there are lots of relatives along the family tree, and that’s enough proof for them.

Notice on this chart that the space is blank in every case where there should be a direct ancestor to a whale (the pink vertical lines). All the chart shows are species that supposedly branched off from the main line that leads to whales. If we have fossils of all the animals shown, why is there not one single fossil in the direct ancestral line to the whale? [3]

The current animal getting the most credit for becoming a whale is called Pakicetus and was a wolf-like animal of about that same size, 5 or 6 feet long. Their proof seems to be all wrapped up in the similarity between the teeth and ear bones of the two species.

Look at the two wolf-like animals at the top, Indohyus and Pakicetus. From those two it is a huge, huge leap to the new body plan of the third one down, Ambolucetus, which I’ll mention more in a minute.

The Smithsonian Institute has an article titled “How Did Whales Evolve?” which I thought might provide some good answers. [4] It’s a very long article and makes some sweeping claims about evolution. But, if you pay attention, you’ll see they have to admit that they still don’t have any ancestors of whales. The article takes a long time going into the history of fossil discoveries but never answers “How Did Whales Evolve?” which you would have expected from the title. At one point they tell the truth and then lie about what it means. "Though not a series of direct ancestors and descendants, each genus represents a particular stage of whale evolution. Together they illustrate how the entire transition took place." [5]

Sure, we know, “It might have happened.” That’s not science.

They even admit later that analysis of genes and amino acids refutes this ancestry line and indicates whales are related to hippos. The title and the article are pure propaganda.

Here is another example of an article that is even worse, "How Whales' Ancestors Left Land Behind" from LiveScience.com. This is their explanation for “How Whale’s Ancestors Left Land Behind.” What a joke!

"The 'first whale,' a creature whose lifestyle (living on land but eating fish from the nearby sea) represented the early stage of this transition into the water, was a wolf-size fish eater...Whereas this creature had a body clearly adapted for land, its relatives began acquiring features better suited to life in the water, such as webbed feet and a more streamlined, hairless shape." [6]

In their religious zeal for evolution, lots of imagination is allowed. Here is an example of the actual bones discover for the Pakicetus. In Part 1 of this picture you can see that fragments of a skull bone were discovered. Only the grayed areas of the skull and several teeth were actually discovered. In Part 2 is the somehow fully developed artist’s drawing of Pakicetus. You can see that he really looks like the ancestor of the whale as he plays in the water eating fish. But, the story is not over. As you can see in Part 3, more bones were discovered. The real bones forced the artists to come up with a totally new drawing, shown in Part 4.

The moral of this story is that you should always ask to see the actual bones that have been found and not the artist drawing. (See also Proof for God #64, Missing Links, the sections on hoaxes and “Lucy”.) [7]

So what do we really have?

Pakicetus (wolf-like) -> Missing Link -> Missing Link -> Missing Link -> Missing Link -> Missing Link -> Missing Link -> Whale. Just stop for a minute and think about the monumental indoctrination that has to be perpetrated for you to believe something like that. Where’s the proof? There is no fossil record that is even claimed to be a direct ancestor at any stage. There are just artist’s drawings.

Another animal often named as a side lineage of the ancestral lines of whales is called Ambulocetus. This is another case of evolutionist’s great imagination. Compare the actual fossil bones that were found to the artist’s drawing. Note that no pelvis bones were discovered so they could not be sure if it walked or swam.

In a lot of the drawings on whale evolution you will also see a Basilosaurus. But they often leave out the fact that it was 10 times bigger than Ambulocetus and “the serpentine form of the body and the peculiar shape of the cheek teeth make it plain that Basilosaurus could not possibly have been the ancestor of modern whales.” [8]

Here is another totally unscientific quote from American Museum of Natural History under the title of “Whale Evolution.” It is followed by a drawing like above.

"One group of hoofed mammals spent more and more time in the water, living on the abundant food there. Eventually they left land altogether—evolving into the fully aquatic whales. Take a look at a few of these early extinct whales below." [9]

As anyone can easily see, for a wolf-like animal to evolve into a whale, there have to be some tremendous, even unbelievable, changes. Let’s ask one of the obvious questions. Why? Evolutionists will say that Natural Selection chooses the fittest to survive. So a wolf, being a carnivore, is trying to catch fish. He would be better adapted if he had web feet, so he grew them. Then he would be better adapted if his tail grew and became useful for swimming and he developed bigger lungs to stay underwater longer.

Which wolf is more likely to survive in your opinion, a wolf that is trying to catch fish or a wolf that tries to catch a rabbit? Even a wolf that is half way to evolving webfeet is worse off at catching rabbits and only very slightly better at catching fish. Since evolution takes many generations, which wolf is going to survive?

No wolf if he gets really hungry trying to catch fish is going to evolve web feet. He is going to go catch a rabbit.

The same argument applies continuously. A wolf is so absolutely unfit for swimming and living in water that any wolf that tried it would die long before it could reproduce. The fittest to survive are clearly the other wolves out catching rabbits.

Now let me just share a few of the amazing characteristics of a whale. If you are an evolutionist, you would have to come up with some explanation for how each one of these features could evolve slowly and gradually through many generations. Nearly all of the intermediate stages in a slow process are poorly adapted for survival.

The Tail. For whales, this is their primary source of power for swimming. There are “flukes” on the end that go out sideways which add more driving force and maneuverability. A mammal tail swings mostly side to side, not up and down, and has very little of the strength needed for propulsion.

Skin. Mammals have hair and sweat glands. Whales do not. Whale skin has lots of extra fat or blubber.

Blubber. Whales have huge amounts of fat deposits called blubber, up to 11 inches thick. This serves as insulation in cold water and also protection for the very deep dives that they do.

Lungs. Whales have a huge lung capacity that allows them to stay underwater for long periods of time. They also can slow down their metabolism to increase their dive time. "...a humpback whale's lungs can hold about 5,000 liters of air." [10] By comparison, human lungs hold about 6 liters of air.

"Whales are adapted for diving to great depths. In addition to their streamlined bodies, they can slow their heart rate to conserve oxygen; blood is rerouted from tissue tolerant of water pressure to the heart and brain among other organs; haemoglobin and myoglobin store oxygen in body tissue; and they have twice the concentration of myoglobin than haemoglobin." [11]

Eyes. Whale eyes are specially adapted to be able to see in water which has a far higher refractive index than air. Their eyes also have to be able to withstand the tremendous pressure down deep in the ocean.

Sonar and Hearing. Many types of whales have sonar. This means they can make a sound which goes through the water and bounces back when it hits an object. They have the ability to receive the sound, send signals to their brains, and interpret what it means. It is similar to what bats can do, however they have to do it in water using the fatty lipids in their heads. This is very different from doing it in air. (See my Proof for God #42, Bats and Echolocation. [12])

"...they have teeth and only one blowhole. They rely on their well-developed sonar to find their way in the water. Toothed whales send out ultrasonic clicks using the melon. Sound waves travel through the water. Upon striking an object in the water, the sound waves bounce back at the whale. These vibrations are received through fatty tissues in the jaw, which is then rerouted into the ear-bone and into the brain where the vibrations are interpreted." [13]

Does there exist a good explanation about how this echolocation ability could arise slowly over many generations? All the parts have to be there from the beginning or the system doesn’t work.

"Instead of sound passing through the outer ear to the middle ear, whales receive sound through the throat, from which it passes through a low-impedance fat-filled cavity to the inner ear. The whale ear is acoustically isolated from the skull by air-filled sinus pockets, which allow for greater directional hearing underwater." [14]

So here is another dramatic change from a land animal. Whales have a very different process of hearing.

Blowholes. All known terrestrial mammals have nostrils on the front of their faces. Whales have either one or two blowholes in the top of their heads. Think about all the changes that would be required for your nostrils to migrate to the top of your head. It’s not just the hole in your skull that has to move, but all of the muscles, sensory nerves, air passages, nerve channels that connect to the brain, and probably a lot more. All have to change and change drastically. Not only that, your lungs have to change tremendously as well because you would need a gigantic lung capacity to stay underwater for a long time. Changing the size of your lungs requires changes in your ribs and spine and probably your heart and other internal organs.

Flippers. Clearly whales have fins on the sides instead of legs and feet going downward like mammals. How do legs turn into fins? The skin is different. The muscles are different and used differently. This requires rewiring to the brain as well.

Special Rib Cage. What about the bones? Changing from a wolf-like animal would require almost a complete makeover of the skeleton. The pelvis in land mammals cannot be found in whales. How does a transitional species with half a pelvis manage to either walk or swim well?

"These animals rely on their well-developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water; they swim by moving their fore-flippers and tail fin up and down. Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows their chest to compress during deep dives as the pressure increases with depth." [15]

"Balaenids are the right whales. These animals have very large heads, which can make up as much as 40% of their body mass, and much of the head is the mouth. This allows them to take in large amounts of water into their mouths, letting them feed more effectively." [16]

Reproduction. Whales somehow have to do it all in the water. Like other mammals, males have a penis and females have a vagina. If they really evolved from wolves, then both the male and female would have to evolve their respective sexual parts at the same time and in the same vicinity in the ocean to each other so they could mate. There are videos on YouTube of whale sex. Somehow I have trouble imagining that could come about accidentally. And that’s not all the problems they need to solve in order to reproduce.

Here is a fun fact. The penis on the Blue Whale is about 8 to 10 feet long and weighs in at over 400 pounds.

"Since they are unable to go onto land to calve, they deliver the baby with the fetus positioned for tail-first delivery. This prevents the baby from drowning either upon or during delivery. (It will need air. JLS.) To feed the new-born, (mother) whales, being aquatic, must squirt the milk into the mouth of the calf. Being mammals, they, of course, have mammary glands used for nursing calves; they are weaned off at about 11 months of age. This milk contains high amounts of fat which is meant to hasten the development of blubber; it contains so much fat that it has the consistency of toothpaste." [17]

Baleen Whales. One of the types of whales has huge bristle-like walls in their mouth that act like sieves. Look at pictures of these whales and the structures in their mouth. Think about all the changes in their head size and shape, body, nervous system, eating habits, and much more that would have had to evolve separately over many generations. If their land-mammal ancestors were successful, why make all the minor changes that would be less advantageous to develop this.

"Baleen whales were named for the long plates of baleen which hang in a row (like the teeth of a comb) from their upper jaws. Baleen plates are strong and flexible; they are made of a protein similar to human fingernails. Baleen plates are broad at the base (gumline) and taper into a fringe which forms a curtain or mat inside the whale's mouth. Baleen whales strain huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates to capture food: tons of krill, other zooplankton, crustaceans, and small fish." [18]

Sleeping. Here is something you probably don’t know about whales. Try to imagine how this could have possibly evolved.

"Unlike most animals, whales are conscious breathers. All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for long because they may drown. While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited, toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to sleep with one side of their brain at a time, so that they may swim, breathe consciously, and avoid both predators and social contact during their period of rest." [19]

By the Theory of Evolution, every one of these adaptations would have had to evolve over many generations. So try to imagine having 5% of a tail, 10%, 20%, etc. Or how about evolving so half your brain can go to sleep while the other half stays awake. Think over all of the other amazing features listed above one by one. How can any one of these if only partially completed be selected for by Natural Selection? You’d have ridiculous looking deformed beasts that would die out in one generation because they are so poorly suited for the environment they are supposed to live in. Whales are an all or nothing proposition.

There has to be God.
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[1] World Wide Life, “Whales”, http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale

[2] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[3] Biowebpagevdl Wiki, "Whales Evolution", http://biowebpagevdl.wikia.com/wiki/Whales_evolution

[4] Switek, Brian, Smithsonian.com, "How Did Whales Evolve?", December 1, 2010, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-whales-evolve-73276956/?no-ist

[5] Switek, Brian, Smithsonian.com, "How Did Whales Evolve?", December 1, 2010, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-whales-evolve-73276956/?no-ist

[p6] Parry, Wynne, LiveScience.com, "How Whales' Ancestors Left Land Behind", http://www.livescience.com/28075-how-whales-ancestors-left-land.html

[7] Stephens, Jim, “Proof for God #64, Missing Links”, http://101proofsforgod.blogspot.com/2014/07/64-missing-links.html

[8] Sarfati, Jonathan, "Refuting Evolution—Chapter 5", http://creation.com/refuting-evolution-chapter-5-whale-evolution

[9] American Museum of Natural History, "Whale Evolution", http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/whales-giants-of-the-deep/whale-evolution

[10] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[11] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[12] Stephens, Jim, “Proof for God #42, Bats and Echolocation”, http://101proofsforgod.blogspot.com/2013/08/42-bats-and-echolocation.html

[13] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[14] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[15] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[16] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[17] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.ttwikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

[18] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, "How were baleen whales named?", http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/education/cetaceans/baleen1.php

[19] Wikipedia, "Whale", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale

#93 Camels

Just as the Emperor Penguin (Proof #92) could never have evolved in the frigid and desolate Antarctica without dying before evolving, there is an animal specifically adapted by God for the harsh climates in the desert. I’m sure you know that animal is the camel. However, you will be amazed to learn the details about the camel.

For evolution to be true and a camel to evolve all the special adaptations that it has for the desert, it would need to be living in the desert most of the time, otherwise the adaptations are useless so would not be selected slowly and gradually over generations by Natural Selection. But if you think about it, the camel could not be living in the desert in the first place UNLESS it already has its special adaptations.

“A camel can go a week or more without water, and it can last for several months without food. It can survive a 40 percent weight loss and then drink up to 32 gallons (145 liters) of water in one drinking session!” [1]

If the camel did not live in the desert, there is no advantage to developing the special adaptations that it has. So Natural Selection would never develop a camel outside of the desert.

Camels have been domesticated for at least 3,500 years. [2] This means that they have been very, very helpful to humans living in the desert areas of the world. 

"Humans have used camels for their wool, milk, meat, leather, and even dung that can be used for fuel. Camel milk is an important food of the desert nomadic tribes. A camel can provide a large amount of meat for these people also. The camel’s hump is considered a delicacy in these cultures." [2]

You could easily recognize that this might have been designed because they were so perfect for the job. They even got the nickname “ship of the desert” because they can carry 200 or more pounds about 20 miles a day. They can reach 7 feet tall at the hump(s) and weigh 1,500 pounds. [3] They can run 40 miles per hour for short distances and average 25 mph for long distances. [4]

Camels have two rows of thick eye lashes to provide great protection against sands and winds. They have an inner eyelid which is actually transparent and allows the camel to see though it while protecting the eye. [2] This third eyelid has the special ability to wipe sand and dust out of the camel’s eye.

“Camels have three eyelids. Two of the eyelids have lashes and the third eyelid comes from the corner of the eye. The eyes are protected by a double row of long curly eyelashes which help keep out the sand and dust. Thick bushy eyebrows shield the eyes from the desert sun.” [5]

The Camel’s nostrils are unique. They can be closed at will to prevent sand and dust from entering. They also have a unique lining which captures the moisture out of the air when the camel breathes out. This allows the Camels to preserve moisture in their bodies. [4]

Camels have small ears and lots of hair over their ears to keep out the sand.

Camels have very unique lips. The upper lip is split in the middle and each side can be controlled independently. Each half is tough but flexible. This allows the Camel to put its mouth down close to the ground sideways and chew off low lying vegetation.

The Camel has a very leathery surface inside its mouth. This allows it to eat thistle bushes and cactus and other sharp and strong plants that grow in the desert.

Camel humps do not store water, but they do store fat, up to 80 pounds of fat. This allows Camels to go for weeks and even months on very little food. The fat when metabolized produces energy and also actually releases more than a gallon of water for each gallon of fat. So it is actually a wonderful mechanism for storing water. [2]

"When there is little food and water, the camel's hump fat releases water; 9.3 grams of fat releases 1.13 grams of water, according to research by the University of Singapore." [6]

Another advantage of storing fat in their hump is that camels don’t have to store it throughout the rest of their body which would tend to make them hotter in the summer because of the insulating effect of fat. [7]

Camels have very thick coats that reflect sunlight and help keep them from overheating. Their long legs keep them farther from the hot sand. [2]

Camels have an amazing ability to absorb and maintain water in their bodies. Their kidneys and intestines are excellent at holding water. [2] Various sources say they can drink between 30 [6] and 53 [4] gallons of water in a single session. That’s twice the amount of liquid that would fit in your car’s gasoline tank. That’s three times the amount in a normal tall kitchen garbage can (13 gal.).

Scientists do not know where all the water goes. Any other animal that drank that much compared to its size would die.

Conversely Camels can still function if they are dehydrated way past the point where other animals would die.

“Camels can survive without food and water a long period of time. Most mammals would die if they lose 15% of their water (critical loss of water is called dehydration), but a camel can lose 20-25% water without becoming dehydrated.” [5]

Camels are unique among all mammals because their red blood cells are oval instead of round. This allows their blood to continue to circulate in their capillaries even when the blood gets thicker due to less and less water content. [8]

Camels can even conserve water by concentrating their urine into a thick syrup. They also extract all the moisture from their feces so that it is almost completely dry. It can be burned as fuel from the moment it is released.

Camels have another totally unique ability. Almost all mammals maintain a constant body temperature and this takes energy. Humans keep a body temperature of about 98.6 degrees. Camels can allow their body temperatures to go down to 93.2 degrees at night or up as high as 105.8 degrees before they begin to perspire. [8] Humans would die at those extremes. Camels can survive temperatures down to -20 degrees in winter and up to 120 degrees in summer. How do they do it? Scientists don’t know, nor do they know how it could have evolved in a slow and gradual process.

“Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain.” [4]

Tell me how something like their cooling system for the brain could possibly evolve by a slow and gradual process over generations. Their brains would be fried by the sun.

Camel feet are specially adapted to walking on sand because they have two large pads on each foot that expand when stepping down and then close up as they are being lifted for the next step. When Camels walk, they walk differently than most animals. Both feet on one side move at the same time so it looks very unnatural. If you’ve ever seen them run, it looks very funny.

Camels have special kidneys and intestines. They have special immune systems. But I’ve gone on long enough.

A person who believes in evolution might be able to imagine how a camel could evolve a couple of these special adaptations, but there are way, way too many of them to be explained like that. Fortunate accidents may happen once in a while, but not repeatedly.

It is therefore clear to me that the Camel was designed and not evolved. Hence, there must be God.

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[1] San Diego Zoo, "Ships of the desert", http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/camel

[2] Camel Facts, https://kidskonnect.com/animals/camel/

[3] SoftSchools.com, "Camel Facts", http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/camel_facts/38/

[4] Wikipedia.org, “Camel”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel

[5] British Llama Society, "All about Camels", www.britishllamasociety.org/camelids/camels/camels.html

[6] Alina Bradford, "Camels: Facts, Types & Pictures", http://www.livescience.com/27503-camels.html

[7] “Facts about camels”, http://www.onekind.org/be_inspired/animals_a_z/camel/

[8] Michele Collet, "20 Amazing Facts About Camels", http://scribol.com/environment/20-amazing-facts-about-camels/3