General Information
Blue
whales have long, streamlined bodies with a small dorsal fin. The
body is smooth, with small, light-colored patches. The color of a
blue whale is grayish, with a slight bluish tint. The head, when
seen from above, is U-shaped. There are 60 longitudinal grooves along
the stomach and throat. These grooves stretch about halfway along
the body. The blue whale swims fast, and normally cruises about 3.5-4.6
mph.
Where They
Live
Blue Whales can be found in almost all of the oceans of the world, but
there are three main areas. One is in the northern Pacific, another,
the northern Atlantic, and last, the southern Hemisphere.
Migration
Blue whales stay in the waters of the Antarctic in the summer, and then
migrate toward warmer waters such as those of Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa,
and - less often - Australia and New Zealand.
Population
Decrease
Because of great amounts of blubber and flesh that blue whales have, industrial
whalers have long preferred this species. The result is now blue
whales are endangered, even though blue whales have been a protected species
since 1965 (33 years now). Since the book I used has been written,
the population has not increased.