Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Blue whales are the largest animals are Earth and the largest creatures to have ever existed (more than twice the size of the largest dinosaur). The largest known blue whale was a female weighing in at 181 metric tons (400,000 pounds). Blue whales hearts are the size of a small car and their tongues alone can weigh nearly as much as an elephant! Blue whales do not have teeth but rather long plates of baleen which they use to feed on some of the smallest creatures in the oceans, plankton and krill. They live in all oceans of the world and can live up to 80 years of age. Due to severe hunting practices by whalers in the early 1900’s, the blue whale is on the endangered species list with an uncertain future.

Characteristics

The blue whale is very streamlined and slender, with a small rounded dorsal fin located about three-quarters of the way along the back. The tail flukes are large and notched, and flippers are slender and pointed. They have a darkish blue-grey mottled skin color and a pale underside that often gets a sulphur yellow hue to it due to algae…

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