Blue Whale
The Blue Whale is the biggest living animal on Earth. In the northern hemisphere these giants can reach lengths of up to 80 feet,and can weigh up to 200,000 pounds. The longest Blue Whale ever taken from the sea was a 110 foot female taken from the southern hemisphere. Their color is bluish-gray on their backs and sides.
Here is some facts at a glance:
Scientific Name: Balaenopteridae
Living Area: All oceans
What It Eats: Plankton and krill
Class:Mammals
Tiny growing organisms called diatoms grow on the outside of a whale's stomach that gives them a yellowish color. This is why they are also called "sulphurbottom" whales.
Their head is wide and flat and their dorsal fin is small, and may not be seen except when they are beginning to submerge.
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Some historical areas of conservation are the eastern gulf of Alaska, the eastern Aleutians, and the far western Aleutians.
Blue Whales spend most of the time along edges of contenintal shelves and are rarely sighted in coastal Alaskan waters.
The Blue Whale does migrate long distances. From wintering grounds to high latitude feeding grounds. If they live in the North Pacific Ocean they winter in Baja California. While in the summer they may be seen across the gulf of Alaska, they rarely enter the Eastern Bearing Sea. Blue Whales eat krill and may filter several million through their baleen. They eat in the nutrent-ritch polar waters in the summer. A sign that tells them to migrate is that the ice freezes over their feeding waters. When they travel to warm waters they eat practically nothing in these warm waters. They return to the warm waters to mate. The calves are born in this period of time and are born in warm waters the following year. A single born calf can weigh as much as three tons and be 25 feet long. A calf can consume 50 gallons of milk a day and gain up to 200 pounds a day.
It is guessed that between 4,900 to 6,000 whales of this kind inhabited the northern Pacific prior to whaling. Between 1910 and 1966 approximatly 8,200 Blue Whales were elimated in the North Pacific Ocean, severely reducing the population. The North Pacific population is now estimated to be at 1,200 to 1,700 whales. The worldwide population is now estimated to be at 8,000 to 12,000. Scientists do not know for sure whether the amount of whales of this kind is increasing or decreasing but the number of sightings has increased since the end the of whaling. No other human activities besides whaling in the North Pacific have disturbed the population of the species.
Despite their enormous mass, it is quite graceful in water. This whales circuitry system pumps at least 10 tons {2,000 pounds=ton} of blood through it's body using it's heart which is about the size of a small vehicle! This whale has 64 to 94 groves in it's throat.
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