The tallest animal in the whole world is neither the elephant nor the rhinoceros nor the giraffe, in fact the record holder for the tallest animal in the world is a marine mammal. As you will have understood, it is indeed the blue whale, the largest animal in the world.
The blue whale, the largest animal in the world ever known throughout the history of the Earth, has suffered enormously from human practices, being one of the species most affected by the intervention of Man. These extraordinary whales have a long history, which today we want to pass on to you in this breed sheet in which we will talk about the blue whale.
Origin
- America
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Oceania
Blue Whale Features
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale species and to the Balaenopteridae family. It is also given the name blue whale, sharing the family with other whales such as the fin whale or the sei whale.
These whales belong to the group of baleen whales, so named because of the presence of several rows of horny plates, which are called baleen and which start from the beginning of their upper jaw. A blue whale has between 300 and 400 baleen on each side of the jaw, each measuring about one meter long and 50 cm thick.
In this species, three different subspecies have been recorded:
- B. Mr. musculus: found in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- B. Mr. brevicauda: endemic to Antarctica.
- B. Mr. intermedia: living in the North Pacific.
The body of these whales is long and light colored on the belly and bluish gray on the back. Their heads are flat and large, conforming to a fourth part of their body.
Blue whale size
The average size of an adult specimen of blue whale or blue whale is approximately 24 to 27 meters, however, in some cases specimens with a length exceeding 30 meters have been recorded. Specifically, it was a blue whale that measured 33.63 meters in total.
In the case of baby blue whales, called calves, their average length is around 8 meters.
Once these dimensions are given, there is no longer any doubt that the blue whale is the largest animal in the world, even including any prehistoric animal.
How much does the blue whale weigh?
Adult blue whales have a body mass between 100 and 120 tons. The weight record is held by a whale from the Pacific Ocean, whose recorded weight was 173 tons.
In this case, calves weigh up to 2.5 tons, growing by around 90 kg per day just by consuming only and exclusively breast milk.
Blue Whale Habitat
Blue whales live in all the oceans of the planet. There are several different populations, usually differentiated in their location according to the subspecies to which they belong. However, when the cold arrives, the blue whale migrates to warmer areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
With about 2,000 recorded specimens, the largest population is that of B. m. musculus, present in the northeast of the Pacific in areas ranging from the coasts of Alaska to those of Costa Rica.
What are the habits and what does the blue whale eat?
The blue whale is a migratory animal that lives in all the oceans of the world, but prefers the cold waters of the polar circle in summer and the warm waters of the equator in winter.
They are known for the power of their songs, indeed, it is estimated that the song of a blue whale can be heard by another who is 1,500 km away, these powerful vocalizations are of low frequency, which allows them to disperse and spread well in water.
The reproduction of the blue whale begins towards the end of Autumn, when the mating begins, which will last until the end of Winter. The blue whale is a mammal and viviparous.
As for the diet of the blue whale, the latter feeds almost exclusively on Krill, a microscopic crustacean. To consume these animals, the blue whale ingests thousands of liters of water that it expels out of its mouth with the force of its tongue through its baleen.These baleen allow him to filter the Krill that will get stuck in the baleen. During this process, blue whales may also ingest some small fish or shellfish.
The blue whale is on the verge of extinction?
Blue whales are listed on the IUCN Red List as a critically endangered species, a truly alarming situation that requires extreme measures to save the species.
This situation was caused by many years of hunting, as whale meat was highly prized in several places around the world. They were hunted without any control, even the calves were harpooned Currently, blue whale hunting has been banned in many countries since in 1966 the International Whaling Commission took emergency measures to try to ensure the survival of this species. Despite the ban on hunting, the recovery of blue whale populations has not been impressive and it still remains in danger today.
Blue whale photos
