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The blue whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known ever to have existed.
- What Is The Blue Whale?
- Diet of Krill
- Coloring and Appearance
- Vocalization and Behavior
- Blue Whale Calves
- Longevity
- Conservation
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Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet long and upwards of 200 tons. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile.
Blue whales reach these mind-boggling dimensions on a diet composed nearly exclusively of tiny shrimplike animals called krill. During certain times of the year, a single adult blue whale consumes about 4 tons of krill a day. Blue whales are baleen whales, which means they have fringed plates of fingernail-like material, called baleen, attached to ...
Blue whales look true blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Their underbellies take on a yellowish huefrom the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes.
Blue whales live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic, occasionally swimming in small groups but usually alone or in pairs. They often spend summers feeding in polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations towards the Equator as winter arrives. These graceful swimmers cruise the ocean at more than five miles an hour, but accelerate to more ...
Calves enter the world already ranking among the planet's largest creatures. After about a year inside its mother's womb, a baby blue whale emerges weighing up to 3 tons and stretching to 25 feet. It gorges on nothing but mother's milk and gains about 200 pounds every day for its first year.
Blue whales are among Earth's longest-lived animals. Scientists have discovered that by counting the layers of a deceased whale's waxlike earplugs, they can get a close estimate of the animal's age. The oldest blue whale found using this method was determined to be around 110 years old. Average lifespan is estimated at around 80 to 90 years.
Aggressive hunting in the 1900s by whalers seeking whale oil drove them to the brink of extinction. Between 1900 and the mid-1960s, some 360,000 blue whales were slaughtered. They finally came under protection with the 1966 International Whaling Commission, but they've managed only a minor recovery since then. Blue whales have few predators but are...
Learn about the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, its diet, vocalization, behavior, and lifespan. Find out how blue whales were hunted to the brink of extinction and how they are recovering today.
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Há 2 dias · Learn about the blue whale, the largest animal ever to have lived, a species of baleen whale that feeds on krill and lives in all oceans. Find out how it is endangered, how it communicates, and how it is related to other whales.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
13 de ago. de 2020 · Learn about the blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, and its endangered status, habitat, diet and behavior. Find out how WWF works to protect this species from whaling, climate change, bycatch and other threats.
27 de ago. de 2017 · 5.34M subscribers. Subscribed. 79K. 9.1M views 6 years ago #NatGeoWILD #Educational #BlueWhales. Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever existed. Learn why they're larger than any...
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- Nat Geo WILD
Learn about the largest animals ever to have lived on the planet, their distribution, feeding, reproduction, threats and conservation status. Find out how to recognize individual blue whales and where to see them in different regions.
28 de set. de 2023 · Learn about the largest animal on Earth, its distribution, behavior, diet, threats, and conservation efforts. NOAA Fisheries provides scientific data, management plans, and resources for blue whales and their habitats.
