Blue whale

The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen [3] [4] whales (called Mysticeti). At over 33 metres (108 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons) or more [5] inweight, it is the largest animal ever known to have existed. Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be [6] various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinctsubspecies: B. m. musculus of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia of the Southern Ocean and B. m. brevicauda (also known as the pygmy blue whale) found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. B. m. indica, found in the Indian Ocean, may be another subspecies. As with other baleen whales, its diet [7] consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill. Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over 40 years, they were hunted almost toextinction by whalers until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there [8] were 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide, located in at least five groups. More recent research into the [9] Pygmy subspecies suggests this may be an underestimate. Before whaling, the largest population was in the [10] Antarctic, numbering approximately 239,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000). There remain only much smaller (around 2,000) concentrations in each of the North-East Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean groups. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic, and at least two in theSouthern Hemisphere. The blue whale has a long tapering body that appears stretched in comparison with the stockier build of other [20] whales. The head is flat and U-shaped and has a prominent ridge running from the blowhole to the top of the [20] upper lip. The front part of the mouth is thick with baleen plates; around 300 plates (each around one metre [20] (3.2 ft) long) hang from the upper jaw, running 0.5 m (1.6 ft) back into the mouth. Between 60 and 90 grooves (called ventral pleats) run along the throat parallel to the body length. These pleats assist with evacuating water [20] from the mouth after lunge feeding (see feeding below).The dorsal fin is small, visible only briefly during the dive sequence. Located around three-quarters of the way along the length of the body, it varies in shape from one individual to another; some only have a barely perceptible lump, but others may have prominent and falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsals. When surfacing to breathe, the blue whale raises its shoulder and blowhole out of the water to a greater extent than other large whales, such as the fin or sei whales. Observers can use this trait to differentiate between species at sea. Some blue whales in the North Atlantic and North Pacific raise their tail fluke when diving. When breathing, the whale emits a spectacular vertical single-column spout up to 12 metres (39 ft), typically 9 metres (30 ft). Its lungcapacity is 5,000 litres (1320 U.S. gallons). Blue whales have twin [20] blowholes shielded by a large splashguard. The flippers are 34 metres (9.813 ft) long. The upper sides are grey with a thin white border; the lower sides are white. The head and tail fluke are generally uniformly grey. The whale's upper parts, and sometimes the flippers, are usually mottled. The degree of mottling varies substantially from individual to individual. Some may have a uniform slate-grey color, but others demonstrate a considerable [3] variation of dark blues, greys and blacks, all tightly mottled. Blue whales can reach speeds of 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) over short bursts, usually when interacting with other whales, but 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) [3] is a more typical traveling speed. When feeding, they slow down to 5 kilometres per hour (3.1 mph). Blue whales most commonly live alone or with one other individual. It is not known how long traveling pairs stay together. In locations where there is a high concentration of food, as many as 50 blue whales have been seen scattered over a small area. However, they do not form the large, close-knit groups seen in other baleen species.

Blue whales feed almost exclusively on krill, though they also take small numbers of copepods. The species of this zooplankton eaten by blue whales varies from ocean to ocean. In the North Atlantic, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, Thysanoessa raschii, Thysanoessa inermis and Thysanoessa longicaudata are the usual [29][30][31] food; in the North Pacific, Euphausia pacifica, Thysanoessa inermis, Thysanoessa [32][33][34] longipes, Thysanoessa spinifera, Nyctiphanes symplexand Nematoscelis megalops; and in the Antarctic, Euphausia superba, Euphausia crystallorophias and Euphausia valentin.An adult blue whale can eat [35] up to 40 million krill in a day. The whales always feed in the areas with the highest concentration of krill, [28] sometimes eating up to 3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb) of krill in a single day. This daily requirement of an adult [36] blue whale is in the region of 1.5 million kilocalories. Because krill move, blue whales typically feed at depths of more than 100 metres (330 ft) during the day and only surface-feed at night. Dive times are typically 10 minutes [37] when feeding, though dives of up to 20 minutes are common. The longest recorded dive is 36 minutes. The whale feeds by lunging forward at groups of krill, taking the animals and a large quantity of water into its mouth. The water is then squeezed out through the baleen plates by pressure from the ventral pouch and tongue. Once the mouth is clear of water, the remaining krill, unable to pass through the plates, are swallowed. The blue whale [38][39] also incidentally consumes small fish, crustaceans and squid caught up with krill. Mating starts in late autumn and continues to the end of winter.
[40]

[28]

Little is known about mating behaviour or

breeding grounds. Females typically give birth once every two to three years at the start of the winter after a gestation period of ten to twelve months.
[40]

The calf weighs about 2.5 metric tons (2.8 short tons) and is around

7 metres (23 ft) in length. Blue whale calves drink 380570 litres (100150 U.S. gallons) of milk a day. Weaning takes place for about six months, by which time the calf has doubled in length. Sexual maturity is typically reached at eight to ten years, by which time males are at least 20 metres (66 ft) long (or more in the Southern Hemisphere). Females are larger still, reaching sexual maturity at around the age of five, by which they are about 21 metres (69 ft) long. Scientists estimate that blue whales can live for at least 80 years;
[24][40][41]

however, since individual records do

not date back into the whaling era, this will not be known with certainty for many years. The longest recorded study of a single individual is 34 years, in the northeast Pacific. the orca. attacks.
[42] [37]

The whales' only natural predator is

Studies report that as many as 25% of mature blue whales have scars resulting from orca

[24]

The mortality rate of such attacks is unknown.

Blue whale strandings are extremely uncommon, and, because of the species' social structure, mass strandings are unheard of.
[43]

However, when strandings do occur, they can become the focus of public interest. In 1920, a

blue whale washed up near Bragar on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It had been shot in the head by whalers, but the harpoon had failed to explode. As with other mammals, the fundamental instinct of the whale was to try to carry on breathing at all costs, even though this meant beaching to prevent itself from drowning. Two of the whale's bones were erected just off a main road on Lewis and remain a tourist attraction.
[44]