Blue whales are biggest mammals in the world - Blue whales fun facts you must know
Blue whales image credit : pixabay |
Blue
whales are the biggest creatures that have ever lived on Earth. They eat nearly
entirely krill and strain massive amounts of ocean water through their baleen
plates (which hang from the roof of the mouth and work like a sieve). Some of
the largest individuals may consume up to 6 tons of krill each day.
Except
for the Arctic Ocean, blue whales may be found in all oceans. Blue whales are
divided into five subspecies that are currently recognized.
Blue
whale numbers are only a small fraction of what they were before contemporary
commercial whaling drastically decreased their numbers in the early 1900s, but
populations are growing internationally. Blue whales are now threatened mostly
by vessel strikes and entanglements
in fishing gear.
Commercial whaling has drastically reduced blue whale populations across the world. Blue whales are now protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The most recent blue whale stock assessment reports provide data for a variety of stocks, including those in the North Pacific and western North Atlantic Oceans.
Blue whales interesting facts
1. The
world's biggest mammals are Blue whales. Blue whales can be grown maximum
lengths of 33.5 m (110 feet) and weights of 330,000 pounds (150 metric tons).
2. Blue
whales may live for an average of 80 to 90 years.
3. Blue
whales are the world's loudest creatures, with noises that may be heard by
other blue whales up to 1,000 miles away.
4. Blue
whales may consume up to 12,000 pounds of krill (5.4 metric tons) in a single
day.
5. Blue
whales swim at a rate of 5 miles per hour on average, but may reach speeds of
more than 20 miles per hour in brief bursts.
Blue whales weight and appearance
Blue
whales have a long and thin body form. The blue whale gets its name from its
mottled blue-gray appearance, which appears pale blue beneath water. The
mottling pattern varies and can be used to classify individuals.
Antarctic
blue whales are usually bigger than other subspecies of blue whales. Blue
whales, for example, may grow to be approximately 90 feet long and weigh more
than 100,000 pounds in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, but in the
Antarctic, they can grow to be around 110 feet long and weigh more than 330,000
pounds. Female blue whales, like many other baleen whales, are usually bigger
than males.
Size blue whales heart
The blue whale has a
heart the size is approximately similar to the size of a Volkswagen Beetle car.
Blue whales lifespan
Usually blue
whales can live average 80-90 years
Blue
whales have an estimated lifetime of 80 to 90 years. Scientists may determine
whale ages by measuring the layers of wax-like earplugs acquired from deceased
animals.
Blue Whale’s gestation period
10-12
months.
Scientists
know very little about the blue whale's life history. According to
the current understanding, the gestation duration is between 10 and 12
months. Weaning is more likely to occur at 6 to 7 months on or near summer
feeding areas. Sexual maturity is considered to occur between the ages of 5 to 15
years. The majority of reproductive activity, including birth and mating,
occurs during the winter. The typical calving interval is likely to be 2 to 3
years.
Whale’s population in 2020
5000-15000
mature individuals
What blue whales eat / what blue whales feeding / blue whales diet
The favorite
food of blue whales is krill—they are small shrimp-like animals—but fish and
copepods (little crustaceans) may be consumed on occasion. Blue whales filter
feed by swimming up to large schools of krill with their mouths open, closing
their lips around the krill, and inflating their neck pleats. Blue whales
utilize their tongue to squeeze trapped water out of their mouths, while their baleen
plates retain the krill within.
How long blue whales are swims and swimming speed and behavior
Blue
whales may swim in small groups, although they are most commonly seen alone or
in pairs. They spend the summers eating in arctic waters and then make long
migrations to tropical seas as seasons change to winter.
When
eating and traveling Blue whales generally swim at speed around 5 miles per
hour, but they may reach speeds of more than 20 miles per hour in brief bursts.
They are among the loudest mammals on the world, releasing a sequence of
pulses, groans, and moans, and it is thought that noises generated by blue
whales may be heard by other whales up to 1,000 miles distant in the
appropriate oceanographic circumstances.
Where you can see blue whales?
Except
for the Arctic, blue whales may be found in all oceans. They typically move
periodically between summer feeding grounds and winter breeding sites, although
research shows that individuals in some regions may not migrate at all.
Information on distribution and mobility vary by area, and migratory pathways
are remaining unclear. In general, distribution is primarily determined by food
availability—they exist in areas where krill concentrations are high.
Their
range in the North Atlantic Ocean stretches from the subtropics to the
Greenland Sea. Blue whales have been spotted in the seas off eastern Canada and
the eastern United States' shelf waters.
Eastern
North Pacific blue whales are thought to spend the winter off of Mexico and
Central America off the West Coast of the United States. They are most likely
to feed in the summer off the West Coast of the United States and, to a lesser
extent, in the Gulf of Alaska and the central North Pacific.
From
December through March, blue whales with young calves can be seen in the Gulf
of California (Sea of Cortez). This is thought to be a key calving and nursing
habitat for the species.
There is a population in the northern Indian Ocean they are called as "resident population”. Stranding, Sightings and acoustic detections of blue whales have been recorded from the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. These whales' migratory patterns are mainly unknown; however they may be influenced by oceanographic changes associated with monsoons.
Who are the blue whales ancestors?
Hippos
are whales' closest living relative, although they are not whales' ancestors.
Hippos and whales both evolved from four-legged, even-toed, hoofed (ungulate)
ancestors who lived on land some 50 million years ago. Ugulates in the modern
era include the hippopotamus, giraffe, deer, pig, and cow. Whale ancestors, migrated
to the sea and developed into swimming creatures over a period of roughly 8
million years unlike the hippo's ancestor,
Fossils of massive prehistoric whales known as Basilosaurus were initially misidentified as dinosaur fossils before being identified as mammals. These prehistoric whales were longer and had smaller back legs and front flippers than current whales. Their nostrils were located midway between the tip of the snout and the forehead, and they possessed ear bones similar to those found in contemporary whales. Basilosaurus is a transitional form between whales and their terrestrial ungulate relatives.
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