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Where they live Blue whales live in the Pacific Ocean and travel their way to Antarctica with their baby blue whale. Blue whales do not travel in large groups they only travel with their family. After many weeks, the blue whale and their baby blue whale arrive in the cold waters of Antarctica. The blue whale and its will remember their journey to Antarctica. Year after year, the blue whales will swim back to Antarctica. Their babies The baby blue whale is a very hungry baby. When the baby blue whale is hungry the baby blue whale pushes his tongue against his mothers nipple and the thick creamy milk squirts into his mouth. In one day the baby blue whale gulp enough of milk to fill many glasses. He grows very fast. Baby blue whales can weigh up to 200 pounds. What they eat A mother blue whale finds the ocean full of orange krill. Krill looks like little shrimp and are about the size of your middle finger. The blue whale will feed on thousands of pounds of krill a day. There are so many krill in the water that the ocean looks like orange soup. As the blue whale swims through the krill, it opens its large mouth. The mouth fills with water and hundreds of pounds of krill. The krill and water stretch the whales throat until it looks like a big bag. Instead of teeth ,a blue whale has baleen. The baleen grows down from the upper jaw and looks like a comb. Blue whales strain their food thorough the baleen. Predators killer whales are also called orcas. Hungry orcas could be mean danger for the mother blue whale. These mighty hunters with there big teeth could easily attack and kill young blue whale. Also, men are predators of blue whales. Men hunt the blue whales. These who hunt the whales are called "whalers". Whalers in boats chase the whales. If the whale are hit and killed, a big factory ship waits to cut up the dead whales. Men kill whales for their blubber, guns and oil. Men melt the blubber to make oil for soap and machinery. Structure Try to imagine that you're a blue whale. You are very,very big. You are the largest animal that has ever lived. You are as long as three big schools buses end to end and you weigh more than 30 elephants. Your tongue alone weighs as much as a young elephant. But in the water you do not feel as heavy. The water lifts you and holds you up, so you feel as light as a feather. You glide easily and gracefully through the sea. |