The largest animal in the world in our time is the blue or blue whale.
Back in the twenties of the 20th century, in Antarctica - Southern Scotland, a female blue whale was caught, 33 meters long and, judging by its size, weighing more than 150 tons - this is more than the weight of 50 elephants combined.
Around the same time period, a blue whale 30 meters long entered the Panama Canal. In June 1964, the same giant was caught off the Aleutian Islands - 30 meters in length and weighing 135 tons.
Description and lifestyle of the blue whale
According to statistics, the average size of a blue whale in the northern hemisphere is about 22.8 meters for males, 23.5 meters for females. Whales that live in the Southern Hemisphere tend to be slightly larger than their northern counterparts.
The whale's body is dark gray or blue with a bluish tint; oddly enough, the whale's skin is gray with a blue tint. There is a pattern on the body in the form of huge spots. Each whale has its own special pattern on its skin, like fingerprints. From them you can identify a specific individual. If you look at a whale from above, through the water, it appears blue. This explains the name of the animal.
There are more spots on the back half of the body and on the abdominal part, and slightly fewer on the back and front half. The dorsal fin of the blue whale is small - about 1% of the body length and is set back. The head is wide - when viewed from above, with convex edges to the sides. The heart of a blue whale weighs more than 500 kg, the lungs can hold up to 14 m3 of air, and the diameter of the dorsal aorta reaches the diameter of a ten-liter bucket.
In summer, blue whales are found mostly in the waters of the Antarctic, North Atlantic, Bering and Chukchi seas. It is practically never found in tropical latitudes.
There are very few blue whales left anywhere. They live in small isolated families, most often separately from other relatives.
In 1959, near the islands of Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard - in the southern hemisphere, a herd of dwarf blue whales - pygmies - was discovered. This herd numbered about 10,000 individuals. These whales are 3 meters shorter than common Antarctic blue whales, have a shorter tail and are lighter in color.
According to the observations of zoologists, it became clear that pygmies do not migrate to warm waters - the spotting of pygmies, which appears after visiting warm waters, is weakly expressed, which means they could have formed from North Atlantic settlers - the tail of pygmies is also short, like that of Newfoundland blue whales.
Thus, there are three subspecies of blue whales: northern, southern and pygmy.
The blue whale feeds on plankton and does not eat fish. The stomach can hold up to 2 tons of crustaceans.
These whales breed offspring every two years - mainly in winter, in warm waters. Pregnancy lasts approximately 11 months. Babies are born weighing about 2-3 tons and a body length of about 8 meters.
Female mothers nurse their young for approximately 7 months. During this time, the height doubles - 16 meters, and the weight approximately ten times - 23 tons. Already at one year, a small blue whale weighs 45-50 tons and has a body 20 meters long.
Most often, a blue whale in the process of hunting swims at a speed of 11-15 km/h, but in exceptional cases it can reach speeds of up to 33-40 km/h. But a blue whale can swim so fast for a very short time.
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Often people find carcasses of dead whales washed ashore. Scientists still do not know the reasons why whales wash ashore.
In museums all over the world, anyone can see the skeletons of these amazing creatures. Which, even in this form, amaze with their gigantic size. Unfortunately, today a large number of whales have been killed, so they are still endangered. Also, these sea giants may not survive large changes in climate.
The largest mammals on Earth are whales. The results of weighing these giant inhabitants of the world's oceans are truly impressive.
It's hard to believe that such massive animals can move through the water as quickly and gracefully as whales can.
Interesting fact: scientists have found that whales descend from ancient land mammals from the order Artiodactyls.
The whale's closest living relative is the hippopotamus, descended from a common ancestor that lived tens of millions of years ago. Then, 50 million years ago, whales moved to the ocean, and hippos chose to stay closer to land and fresh water.
How much does the largest whale weigh?
The largest human-killed whale of which there is reliable evidence was a female blue whale caught in 1926 near the South Shetland Islands. The weight of the record holder was 176,792 kg; however, some researchers claim that in fact she was never weighed, and her weight was estimated approximately. The length of this individual exceeded 33 meters, which is also a record. 
According to some reports, in 1947, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Georgia, whalers caught a blue whale weighing 190 tons. There is also information about the capture of a whale weighing 181.4 tons.
What is the weight of a blue (blue) whale?
Whales are the largest mammals on the planet, and the largest of all cetaceans is the blue whale, also called the blue whale, or vomit. The dimensions of these giants can reach 33 meters, and their weight can significantly exceed 150 tons. With such an impressive size, the blue whale is a fairly harmless creature: although it is a predator, it feeds exclusively on plankton.
The favorite delicacy of blue whales is krill - small crustaceans whose length does not exceed 6 centimeters. If a whale swallows something larger, it does so by accident, while eating planktonic masses.
Females of vomits are noticeably larger than males: in the Southern Hemisphere, the average length of these animals is 24.5 meters for females and almost 24 meters for males; in the Northern Hemisphere, these sizes are 1 meter less.
There is an opinion that in recent years, whales have been greatly reduced as a result of hunting for them - the attention of whalers is primarily attracted by large individuals, so they die more often and leave fewer offspring than their more modestly sized relatives. 
Some experts claim that in the past, individuals up to 37 meters in length were often found among blue whales.
The maximum weight of the largest representatives of this species is a rather controversial issue, since not every whale caught can be accurately weighed, and not every weighing result is officially registered, but there is information about whales weighing up to 190 tons.
Not all experts agree with this figure, but they all agree that 150 tons is far from the limit for puking.
How much does a whale's heart weigh?
The heart of a blue whale is the most a big heart worldwide. The weight of an adult heart is 600–700 kilograms, and the normal heart rate for these giant hearts is 5–10 beats per minute. In the tallest whales, the heart can weigh almost a ton. The amount of blood in large specimens exceeds 8 thousand liters.
Not only the blue whale’s heart is gigantic in size, but also its other internal organs. For example, the lung volume of an adult whale is more than 3 thousand liters. 
Thanks to such powerful lungs, these animals are distinguished by extremely loud voices and can exchange sound signals at a distance of up to 33 km.
Weight: up to 150,000 kg
Length: up to 33 meters, depending on location (blue whales are the largest in Antarctica)
Lifespan: unknown, but they are capable of producing offspring at 5-15 years of age
Nutrition: mostly krill meat
Behavior: born and mate in winter
Blue whales are distributed throughout the world. Those found in the Northern Hemisphere tend to be smaller in size than those found in the Southern Hemisphere
In the North Atlantic and North Pacific, they can grow up to 27 m, but, in Antarctica, they can reach up to 33 m and can weigh more than 150,000 kg. Like other baleen whales, female blue whales are slightly larger than males in mass and size.
Blue whales have a long body and a relatively thin shape, a wide, flat mouth when viewed from above, a small dorsal fin, and a mottled gray coloration that turns light blue (hence the nickname "blue whale") when viewed through the water.
The main food of blue whales is krill (euphausiids).
In the North Atlantic, blue whales feed on two main euphausian species (Thysanoessa inermis and Meganyctiphanes norvegica). Additionally, T. raschii has been identified as an important food source for blue whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In the North Pacific, blue whales prey primarily on Euphausia pacifica and secondarily on Thysanoessa spinifera.
While other prey species, including fish and crustaceans, may be part of the blue whale's diet, they probably do not contribute significantly.
Scientists have yet to identify many details regarding the life history of the blue whale.
The gestation period is approximately 10-12 months, blue whale calves feed on mother's milk for approximately 6-7 months. Active reproductive activity, including birth and mating, occurs during the winter. Weaning probably occurs during migration to summer habitats. The average interval between births is probably two to three years. The age of puberty is considered to be 5-15 years.
Habitat area
Blue whales are found throughout the world, from subpolar to subtropical latitudes. The movement of whales in the spring is determined by the zooplankton zone in the summer. Although blue whales are found in coastal waters, they are thought to live much further offshore than other whales.
Population distribution
Blue whales are found in all oceans and are divided into groups by ocean basin in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Hemisphere.
They migrate seasonally between summer and winter, but some evidence suggests that some individuals remain in certain areas year-round. The amount of knowledge about their habitat and migration routes is not sufficient.
In the northern part Atlantic Ocean, the blue whale lives from the subtropics to the Greenland Sea. Blue whales are most often spotted in the waters of eastern Canada, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where they are present throughout much of the year.
In the North Pacific, blue whales range from Kamchatka to southern Japan and from Alaska to Costa Rica in the east. They are found mainly south of the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea.
Blue whales in the North Pacific Ocean probably exist in two subgroups:
Northeast Pacific
Northwest Pacific
The eastern population is believed to spend the winter near Mexico and Central America.
The western population appears to feed in the summer in southwestern Kamchatka, south of the Aleutian Islands, in the Gulf of Alaska. During the winter, they migrate to lower latitudes in the western Pacific and, less commonly, to the central Pacific, including Hawaii.
Blue whales accompanied by calves are often observed in the Gulf of California from December to March; this area is likely important for birthing and nursing whales for the species.
Blue whales have been seen in the Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, near Burma and the Strait of Malacca. The migratory routes of these whales are unknown.
In the Southern Hemisphere, two subspecies are distinguished; they mainly live near Antarctica directly near the ice boundary.
Blue whale population size
Blue whales have been significantly depleted by the commercial activities of whaling fleets around the world.
There is no accurate estimate of the number of blue whales in the eastern waters of the North Atlantic. In 1997, 32 whales were photographed in Icelandic waters.
Additional research has shown that the population size near Iceland and neighboring waters may range from 100 to 1000 individuals. Observations off the west and southwest coast of Iceland show blue whale numbers in the region have increased by 5% per year since the late 1960s.
Threats to blue whales
The main threats to whales currently are:
collision with a ship
poaching
Additional threats that could potentially affect the population include:
anthropogenic noise
habitat degradation
ocean pollution
growing number of ships
long-term climate change
Note:
Whaling has significantly reduced the number of blue whales around the world; a ban on whaling adopted in 1966 put an end to the threat of extermination through industrial fishing.
Serious injuries caused by ship collisions may be one of the main threats to blue whales.
The average number of blue whales in California that are killed by ship strikes averaged 0.2 per year 1998-2002.
In the western North Atlantic, at least 9% of whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have injuries or scars consistent with ship strikes. This region has a relatively high risk. The Gulf of St. Lawrence area has a lot of ship traffic at all times of the year, and blue whales congregate in significant numbers in that region at other times.
There is no threat from direct fishing of whales - it is prohibited. However, whales can become entangled in nets and trawls.
There are two documented cases of whale deaths due to these reasons, one in 1987, the second in 1990. However, in practice there may be many times more such cases.
There is no data yet on how exactly anthropogenic noise affects the whale population, but it is considered as a negative environmental factor.
Habitat degradation (e.g., chemical pollution) has occurred in some areas of the North Atlantic (Gulf of St. Lawrence Rivers), but the consequences of this degradation have been poorly studied.
From the 1890s to 1966, blue whales were hunted in all oceans of the world.
At least 9,500 blue whales were caught by commercial whalers in the North Pacific from 1910 to 1965. At least 11,000 blue whales were caught in the North Atlantic from 1890 to 1960.
In 1966, the IWC banned commercial hunting of blue whales. However, illegal whaling of blue whales has been reported.
A small number of illegal catches of blue whales have been reported in the North Atlantic off the coasts of Canada and Spain, in the eastern North Atlantic.
Blue whales were harvested in the Southern Hemisphere by the Soviet Union after 1966 (Zemsky et al., 1995, 1995).
Illegal whaling in the USSR was recorded in the North Pacific Ocean (Yablokov, 1994).
Norwegian whaling ships only target minke whales.
Blue Whale Conservation Activities
Blue whale conservation activities include:
Monitoring carried out by interviewing ship captains;
Implementation of measures to reduce the number of collisions between whales and ships;
Placement of observers on board vessels;
Implementation of measures to reduce fishing for marine mammals;
In 1998, NMFS published the Blue Whale Whale Recovery Plan. In April 2012, an update to the blue whale recovery plan was announced.
The blue whale is listed in the Red Book. Internationally, blue whales received full legal protection from commercial whaling in 1966 under International Convention on the regulation of whaling.
baleen whales
Blue whale. The largest animal on the planet. It can reach a length of 33 m and a weight of 150 tons. Cubs are born with a length of 6 to 8.8 m and a weight of 2-3 tons. Blue whales are found in almost all areas of the World Ocean, with the exception of the tropical zone. In the Northern Hemisphere, they winter at the latitudes of Southern Japan, California, North Africa, Caribbean Sea. In the Southern Hemisphere, animals spend the winter at the latitudes of Australia, Peru, South Africa, Madagascar. In summer, blue whales prefer the cool waters of the Antarctic, North Atlantic, Bering and Chukchi seas. Fishing has been prohibited since 1965.
Fin whale. The second largest whale found in the World Ocean. The maximum length reaches 29 m. The weight of adult animals is usually about 50 tons. A characteristic external species feature of the fin whale is the asymmetry of the color of the side of the head: the lower right jaw is a quarter white, like the belly, and on the left side it is all dark, like the head.
Fin whales live almost everywhere, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, excluding the equator zone. Even in winter they do not descend south of 30°N. and do not rise north of 20-25 o S. There are more fin whales in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. In Russian waters, minke whales of this species are found most often in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, less often in the Okhotsk and Japan Seas, and very rarely in the Barents and White Seas. In addition, several cases of fin whales entering the Kara and Baltic Seas have been recorded. Fishing is prohibited.
Sei whale (sai whale). The third largest whale in the world's oceans. the average length in the Northern Hemisphere is 13-14 m, in the Southern Hemisphere - 14.6-15.5 m, and the maximum - 18 and 19 m, respectively. Females begin to give birth to 4-5 meter cubs from the age of 10 years.
This species of minke whale also lives everywhere, but unlike blue whales and fin whales, it prefers warmer temperate latitudes and does not penetrate far into the cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere. In the Pacific Ocean, it is distributed from the island of Taiwan and the coastal waters of Southern Japan to the northern Bering Sea. In the Atlantic, sei whales live from the Canary Islands and the coast of Florida to the northern shores of Norway, Spitsbergen, Iceland, Labrador and Newfoundland, and sometimes enter the Mediterranean Sea. In the Southern Hemisphere, unlike the Northern Hemisphere, sei whales reach the edge of the ice that encircles the ice continent. Fishing is limited.
Small minke whale (minke whale). The smallest representative of the minke whale family, 7-10 m long and weighing 7-9 tons . Often has a white transverse stripe on the pectoral fins. Widely distributed in temperate and cold waters of the World Ocean. In the Southern Hemisphere it is found everywhere in these zones, and in the Northern Hemisphere it prefers the Pacific Ocean: the Chukchi Sea, right up to the ice zone; East China, Yellow, Japan, Okhotsk and Bering Seas, waters of Japan, Kuril and Aleutian Islands, coast of the USA and Canada. In the North Atlantic, Minke whales are found from Mediterranean Sea and the coast of Florida to Labrador, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, as well as to 70°N. on the east coast of Greenland, off the island of Spitsbergen, in the Norwegian, North, Barents, White and Kara seas. Fishing is limited.
Humpback whale (humpback). The most exotic of the minke whale family. With a body length of up to 18 m, it is distinguished by huge 4-5-meter tuberous pectoral fins, a hump-shaped dorsal fin and a head covered with three to five rows of large warts.
Distributed throughout the World Ocean from the Arctic to the Antarctic, migrates in the coastal zone in the North Pacific Ocean from the Chukchi Sea to the coasts of California and Mexico, from Alaska and Kamchatka to Taiwan. In the North Atlantic, humpback whales are found from Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya to North-West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands, as well as from Greenland and Iceland to Antilles. In the Southern Hemisphere, these whales migrate from the coast of Antarctica north to Chile and Peru, Angola, Congo, Madagascar and New Zealand. Fishing for humpback whales has been prohibited since 1963.
Bowhead whale. The fattest representative of the cetacean order. Reaches a length of 15-18 m (sometimes up to 21 m), a mass of 150 tons. The head makes up 1/3 of the body length. The dorsal fin is missing. Adheres to surface layers of water. When floating up, it “exhales” up to 12 forked fountains within 1-3 minutes, and then dives again for 5-10 minutes. Females give birth to one cub every 3-6 years. It lives in Arctic waters in three local herds: off the island of Spitsbergen in the Barents Sea, off west coast Greenland, in the North Pacific Ocean in the Bering, Chukchi, Okhotsk Seas and in the Beaufort Sea. From one whale they get up to 25-30 tons of fat.
Southern (smooth) whale. Habitats vary depending on the season of the year. In winter, right whales concentrate in the North Asian part of the Pacific Ocean at 20-40 0 N latitude, as well as in the southern part of the Japanese Sea, in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and in the waters of Taiwan. In the spring (from March to May) the migration of animals to the north begins, and they spend the summer in the Sea of Okhotsk, in the region of the Kuril ridge, off the coast of Kamchatka and Commander Islands. With the onset of autumn, animals migrate south for the winter.
Gray whale. The most ancient of the baleen whales. It has not lost contact with the shore, as it breeds only in the shallow bays of California and Korea. With a maximum length of 15 m, the weight of animals reaches 20-35 tons. Growth continues up to 40 years. After 8 years, females give birth to cubs about 4 m long and weighing up to 600 kg or more. Lives exclusively in the waters of the northern half of the Pacific Ocean. In Russian waters it is found along the coast Sea of Japan, in the La Perouse and Tatar straits, in the area of the Kuril Islands, Okhotsk, sometimes in the East Siberian Sea along the edge of the pack ice. In addition, gray whales are frequent visitors to the coastal waters of Korea, the Korea Strait and the area Japanese Islands. Extraction is permitted only for the local population of Chukotka in single quantities.
TOOTHED WHALES
Sperm whale. The largest representative of toothed whales. With a body weight of 50 tons, males can reach a length of 20, and females - 15 m. The average length of males in waters Far East is 15, females - 13 m. Characteristic external features: huge, laterally flattened head (1/3-1/4 body length); depression at the bottom of the head; lack of teeth in the upper jaw and long lower jaws; several small hump-fins behind the main dorsal fin. The weight of one sperm whale lower jaw tooth reaches 1.6 kg. Female sperm whales mature at 15-17 years, males at 23-25 years. The length of newborn calves is 4-4.5 m. Sperm whales are distributed throughout the world's oceans. At the same time, females breed in the tropics and rarely go beyond the subtropical zone, and males can migrate in the summer to the north up to the Davis Strait, the Barents and Bering Seas and south to Antarctica. In Russian waters, sperm whales are most often found in the Kuril Ridge region, in the southern part Sea of Okhotsk and off the Commander Islands.
Northern swimmer. It is very easy to distinguish this species of whale from its relatives by its elongated cylindrical beak and characteristic high spherical “forehead,” sometimes with white markings. It reaches a length of 11-12 m, weighs 8-10 tons. It lives in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, from Cape Navarin, Alaska and British Columbia to the latitudes of Southern Japan and California. In Russian waters it is more often found in the Sea of Okhotsk and off Kuril Islands, less often - in the Japanese and Bering Seas. The fat of the floater is not edible, so it is obtained either by accident or for economic purposes, mainly in Japan.
High brow bottlenose. Unlike the swimmer, the bottlenose's beak is sharp and short, and the "forehead" hangs over its base. With a length of 9-10 m, the weight of the animals does not exceed 8 tons. For their habitat, bottlenose fish chose the waters of the North Atlantic from the Davis Strait, Greenland and Barents Seas to the latitudes of North-West Africa and the middle part of the USA. Sometimes they enter the Mediterranean, Baltic and White Seas. They winter in the warm waters of the Atlantic. The bottlenose fishery is carried out in the waters of Norway, the northwestern part of the Barents Sea and Iceland.
Bottlenose dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are common in coastal temperate and warm waters of the World Ocean. Three of the four species of bottlenose dolphins are found in Russian waters: the Black Sea, the Atlantic (in the Baltic) and the North Pacific. The dimensions of these animals do not exceed 3.3-3.6 m, and their weight is 300-400 kg. In spring and summer they give birth to cubs just over 1 m in length and weighing 11-12 kg. Bottlenose dolphins are used mainly in aquariums and zoos.
Common dolphin (real, Black Sea, common dolphin). The length of common dolphins is 1.6-2.6 m (in the Black Sea - no more than 2.1 m). Distinctive features These animals have a slender body and a long beak, separated from the fat pad by characteristic grooves. The weight of male Black Sea dolphins varies from 24 to 58, and females - from 36 to 61 kg. The habitat of these animals in the World Ocean, like that of bottlenose dolphins, is very wide. Three species of dolphins live in Russian waters: Atlantic (Baltic), Black Sea (the smallest) and Far Eastern (Sea of Japan). Dolphin fishing in the Black Sea has been prohibited since 1967.
Grinds. Three species of pilot whales live in the World Ocean: common, tropical and black, or North Pacific. The black pilot whale is the largest, its length reaches 5.5-6.5 m. Characteristic external signs of pilot whales: a spherical head, almost devoid of a beak, a dorsal fin sharply bent back and shifted towards the head.
Toothed whales of this species are distributed in the North Atlantic and in temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean to the latitudes of the Kuril, Commander and Aleutian Islands. Pilot whales are regularly caught off the coast of Japan, Faroe Islands, Newfoundland and Norway, as well as in the open waters of the North and Barents Seas.
Orcas. By its characteristic huge white spots, the killer whale can be easily distinguished from any other whale. With a body length of 8.7-10 m, the weight of the animal reaches 8 tons, and the speed of movement is 55 km/h, which significantly complicates its fishing. Killer whales prefer cold and temperate waters of the World Ocean. They were even encountered in the Arctic seas - the Kara and East Siberian (Chaun Bay). But for some reason the animals avoid the Laptev and Black Seas.
Porpoises. Females are slightly larger than males - body length is 1.8 and 1.7 m, respectively. The maximum weight reaches 90 kg, the average is 50 kg, and among the inhabitants of the Black Sea it does not exceed 30 kg. The weight of the cubs is usually no more than 3 kg. These animals chose bays, bays, fiords, estuaries and lower reaches of rivers of the Northern Hemisphere as their habitats. Three species of porpoises are found in Russian waters: the Black Sea (the smallest), the North Atlantic (Baltic, White, Barents seas) and the North Pacific (the seas of the Far East).
Beluga whales. Feature In addition to their white color, these whales lack a beak and a dorsal fin. The length of males reaches 6 m, weight 2 tons, and females - 5 m and 1.5 tons, respectively. Sucker cubs are slate-blue in color, and young beluga whales are gray or blue.
Distributed in all seas of the Arctic and adjacent basins, the Bering and Okhotsk seas. In very severe winters they can descend south to the latitudes of Japan and Great Britain and enter the Baltic Sea. Three species of belugas live in Russian waters: the White Sea, Kara and Far Eastern. Their production in our waters is limited.
Narwhal (unicorn). The shape, weight and length of the body are the same as that of a beluga whale, but the narwhal's back is dark blue with an overall light background of the body, and the tail on top resembles an anchor with two wide paws. Males are distinguished by a powerful tusk with a spiral thread, protruding 2-3 m from the left side of the muzzle.
It prefers high latitudes for habitat - the Arctic Ocean and Arctic seas, especially the Greenland region and the northern part of the Canadian archipelago. Narwhals were encountered from 85°N. in the north to Great Britain and the Netherlands, the Murmansk coast, the mouth of the Pechora, White Sea, Bering Islands, Port Mollera (Alaska) in the south. The species is very small in number and can be classified as a rare animal. Nevertheless, residents of the Greenland coast catch several hundred narwhals every year.
The blue whale is an animal known throughout the world as the largest sea creature. The dimensions of adult individuals can reach 30 meters in length. It is interesting that in this species the females are traditionally larger and can walk around in length by as much as 10 meters. In the 20th century, blue whales were actively exterminated due to commercial fishing. For this reason, their population has decreased greatly. However, later a ban was introduced on the destruction of blue whales, due to which the number of these animals began to increase noticeably.
Characteristics of appearance
The blue whale, despite its name, is not entirely blue. Its upper part is quite variegated and consists of a mixture of gray and blue colors. From below, this marine inhabitant, as a rule, has a light gray tint or a yellow-white color. The yellow color in the abdominal area of the whale is given by microscopic algae, which are located on it as growths. These algae are called diatoms. The plants are mainly distributed in oceanic waters at fairly low temperatures.
To date, the largest whale ever caught is a female whale measuring 23.58 meters in length, according to official sources. A lot of these sea creatures may well reach 200 tons. To understand how huge this weight is, you can compare it with the weight of an elephant, which is 7.5 tons. The size of this heart is also surprising. sea dweller, which are identical to the dimensions of a passenger car. The beating of such a device can be heard even three kilometers away. There are varieties of blue whales, for example, pygmy whales. They differ from their relatives in a slightly more modest size; such individuals are approximately three meters less in length than other species of blue whales.
Blue whales are also among the animals that make the loudest noises. The strength and volume of the sounds they make reaches 188 decibels. This volume exceeds even the volume of the reactor, which is only 140 decibels. Representatives of the species are able to hear their fellow creatures at great distances – up to 1,500 kilometers.
In addition to its enormous size, a blue whale can be recognized by a small fin located on its back, a fairly round front part of the skull, as well as nine dozen grooves that are located longitudinally on the animal’s belly.Blue whale communication
Blue whales spend most of their lives alone, traveling across the sea. Sometimes they unite in small groups of 2-3 individuals. Large pods of approximately 50-60 whales are traditionally found in places where there is a large accumulation of food.
It should be taken into account that the whale has the loudest voice of all animals. The sounds that the blue whale makes travel for many kilometers in the deep-sea environment due to their low frequency. Whales can easily communicate with their relatives located hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away. For this reason, what seems to us like swimming in splendid isolation is actually not so.
Diet of blue sea creatures
Whales feed by diving into the sea to a depth of approximately 100 meters. At one time, a whale's stomach can hold up to a ton of krill. The whale dives in this way approximately every 15-20 minutes. During summer feeding, each individual requires up to 4 tons of krill daily.
In the animal's mouth is the famous whalebone, which is a black, keratinized plate located at the top of the palate and hanging down. There are about 400 of these plates on each side. The length of each varies from 50 to 100 centimeters. The animal needs “baleen” primarily as a kind of filter, with the help of which the whale sifts out water and krill. When it enters the mouth, the water comes out through the plates, but the whale swallows the remaining food.
Life activity of blue whales and reproduction
Female cetaceans give birth to one calf every two to three years. Today, this rate of population increase exceeds the mortality rate due to the whale hunt that is still ongoing.
Newborn whales are the largest babies on the planet. Just a born whale has a body length of up to 8 meters and a weight of up to 4 tons. The female carries the baby for a year. Traditionally, only one baby whale is born. A person may be very surprised by the growth rate of small whales. Every day the cub becomes 90 kilograms larger. An adult whale is considered to be a whale that has reached the age of 7-8 months. During this period, the animal already reaches 15 meters in length and begins to learn to swim without the help of adults. Whales mature at different rates, usually between 5 and 10 years of age.
Blue whales are also renowned for having the fastest growth rate. In just one year, the size of the tissues of this animal becomes several billion times larger.
Blue whales do not have teeth, like most cetaceans. For this reason, it can be extremely difficult for scientists to determine how old an individual is. The average number of years that blue whales typically live is now considered to be 50 years. Some members of the species can live much longer, up to about 90 years. There is also an absolute record - a whale that lived 110 years.
The process of killing whales
Before active hunting began for blue whales, the population of these animals significantly exceeded 250 thousand individuals. In the 20th century, active extermination of individuals of this species began, as a result of which blue whales were almost completely destroyed. From 1904 to 1967, about 350 thousand individuals were destroyed, and this was only in the southern hemisphere. A large number of individuals were killed, among other things, by Soviet whalers in the 60-70s of the 20th century.
The year 1931 especially stands out in the last century, when the heyday of whaling was observed. In just one season, almost 30 thousand blue whales were killed. Only in 1967 the situation began to change. At this time, people from all over the world began to draw attention to the problem of extermination of this species, after which hunting of the largest marine inhabitants was prohibited.
Prevalence today
Today blue whales are found all over the world. Their habitat is the world's oceans, except the Arctic Ocean. Blue whales are the rarest species of cetacean found today. So far, scientists cannot reliably determine the population size of the species. It is believed that today there are about 10-25 thousand individuals in the world.
One of the largest populations is a group of whales that lives in the Pacific Ocean, in its northern part, near California. The group numbers about 2 thousand individuals, and the size of this population is increasing very quickly, giving hope for an increase in the number of cetaceans in general.
Pygmy whales, as well as pygmy whales, are most often found in Indian Ocean. Based on the results of recent studies, it was found that these species of whales are found, among other things, in other parts of our planet.
Blue whales live primarily in deep ocean waters. During the summer, these animals travel towards the poles, where the water temperature is slightly lower than in other places. In winter, whales, on the contrary, return back to the equator to warmer waters to breed.
Since the seasons in different hemispheres are completely different different time, directly opposite to each other, representatives of different populations living on different sides of the equator do not communicate with each other.
What is dangerous for whales?
Today, most biologists come to the conclusion that the threat to blue sea inhabitants is many times greater than for other species of cetaceans. The following factors pose a great danger to them:- Filling ocean waters with various chemicals.
- There is a high likelihood of whales colliding with ships, as well as the risk of whales becoming entangled in fishing gear.
- Disruption of the balance of sound in nature, which is dangerous for animals because they will not be able to find a mate.
- Loss of permanent location and habitat.
Climate change is becoming a very dangerous moment for whales. The fact is that a serious increase in temperature can make the water more acidic, as a result of which the number of krill, which is the basis of the diet for blue whales, may decrease.
Video: blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
