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Of all the animals in the world, both on land and in the sea, there is no other blue whale. These giants, which appeared 1.5 million years ago, roamed the seas for centuries and became larger than any dinosaur that has ever existed. Blue whales have an average length of 90 feet and weigh over 300,000 pounds, with females slightly larger than males.
But how big was the largest blue whale ever recorded? We will analyze the largest blue whales ever found, and also find out if blue whales are the largest species ever to live on Earth!
Prehistory of the blue whales
Blue whales are solitary animals and usually live alone or sometimes in pairs. They do not form strong bonds other than maternal and calf bonds. Females usually give birth every two to three years and carry babies for twelve months. Even blue whale babies are huge.
- At birth the size of an African elephant: Blue whale calves are usually born about 23 feet long and weigh 6,000 pounds, which is about the weight of an African elephant.
- Increase the size of the person every day: Calves gain about 200 pounds a day during their first year of life, drink exclusively mother’s milk for the first seven months, and usually leave their mother around about a year old.
These sea giants are found in all major oceans of the world except the Arctic Ocean. Little is known about their whereabouts throughout the year, but some, though not all, are thought to migrate to new feeding grounds in summer and back to warmer waters in winter. In the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, there is a site that is popular with blue whales for calving and breastfeeding from December to March, as females from calves have been seen there on numerous occasions.
There are five subspecies of the blue whale – northern, southern (Antarctic), northern Indian, pygmy, and Chilean. Blue whales in the southern hemisphere are generally larger than those in the northern hemisphere, and in all subspecies, females are larger than males. However, even the smallest, the blue dwarf whale, is still one of the largest whales, with an average height of 79 feet.
How much do blue whales eat to get so big?
As the name suggests, blue whales have a blue-gray appearance that usually looks blue when they are in the water. Despite their length, their bodies are actually relatively thin and slender, although they have huge and broad heads. Blue whales are baleen whales, which means they have no teeth, instead they have huge baleen plates that they use to filter out krill (small crustaceans). Krill are caught on the whalebone plates while the salt water is sent back, allowing them to swallow the krill. Because they are so large, they need to eat a lot of krill every day to survive, and one blue that can eat 40 million krill a day (about 8,000 pounds).
One blue whale can eat over 40 million krill a day!
Although blue whales can reach a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour in short bursts, they usually move at 12 miles per hour, and while feeding, they fall into krill clouds at speed and then slow down to about 3 miles per hour as they filter again. sea water. Because of their sheer size, blue whales need a lot of energy to slow down and accelerate while feeding, so blue whales often bypass the krill cloud if it’s not large enough to be worth the effort to feed on. …
The largest blue whale ever recorded
The largest blue whale ever weighed 418,878 pounds. However, blue whales have multiple titles when it comes to size!
Blue whales hold the record for size. The longest blue whale ever recorded was a female measured at South Georgia in the South Atlantic in 1909. This massive whale measured a whopping 110 feet 17 inches.
Although no weight was recorded for her, the smaller South Atlantic female (90 feet 6 inches) was weighed in 1947 and lifted the scales to a whopping 418,878 pounds, which was much heavier than the average for this species. Both of them are listed in the Guinness Book of Records as longest mammal and the heaviest animal respectively.
Is the blue whale the largest whale in the ocean?
For over a million years, blue whales have been the largest animal in the world, and that won’t change soon. The closest animal in length is the fin whale, which averages around 85 feet, although none have ever come close to the impressive 110 feet of the longest blue whale.
Scientists believe blue whales are still increasing in size due to the abundance of krill in Antarctica, which means they are starving for food. Moreover, marine mammals have become much larger than land mammals due to the fact that the water supports their weight. This is due to the fact that water provides buoyancy, which means that it is much easier for an animal to grow up in the sea than on land.
With this in mind, it is entirely possible that there are blue whales that are even longer and heavier than the records we mentioned, especially considering that more than a hundred years have passed since the record was set. However, one of the most limiting factors for determining whether longer blue whales exist is simply that they live in some of the deepest parts of the ocean and are often hundreds of miles from the coastline, meaning that they are often difficult to even discover. Despite this, the position of the blue whale as the largest animal in the world, as well as the largest whale in the world, looks solid for years to come.
Was the blue whale the largest species ever?
It is believed that blue whales are the largest species ever! This is a surprising fact, considering that animals, from prehistoric insects to sharks and reptiles, have ancient relatives that are significantly larger than modern species. Although the blue whale is the largest species ever to exist, here are some of the ocean’s past giants that were also gigantic.
- Megalodon: An ancient species of shark that hunted whales. Some research points Megalodon having a maximum weight of 227,510 pounds. More conservative estimates MegalodonThe maximum weight is approximately 50 tonnes (105,733 lb). Megalodon became extinct before the blue whale appeared. The absence of these apex predators led to the gigantism found in the largest whales today.
- Leedsichthys problematicus: Was a prehistoric fish that could reach 54 feet in length!
- Finally, an ancient ichthyosaur discovered in England in Somerset, England in 2016 may be the biggest competitor to the blue whale size title! This species has only recently been described, but it is estimated to be 85 feet long!
The future of species
These huge whales have a lifespan of about 90 years, and scientists can estimate their age quite accurately by counting the wax layers in the earplugs of dead whales. These earplugs create new layers year after year and are known as a reliable aging method for blue whales. Not only that, but earplugs can even give a great insight into any pollutants whales have been exposed to, or significant periods of stress they have experienced due to the amount of hormones present in each layer.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that their number was once in the hundreds of thousands, now there are only about 25,000 of these gentle giants, and they are now classified as an endangered species. Initially, whaling significantly reduced their numbers, but despite the fact that hunting for blue whales is now prohibited, their numbers continue to decline. Blue whales do not have large natural predators in the wild, although groups of killer whales have been known to kill calves and chase and attempt to kill adults. Perhaps the biggest danger they currently face in the water is the threat of collisions with ships. Because of their size, blue whales often cannot get out of the way of ships quickly enough, to top it all off is the increase in the speed of modern ships on already busy sea routes.
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