| Blue Whales are by far the largest animals that have | | | | Blue Whales are often found alone or with one other |
| ever lived on earth - far bigger than the largest | | | | Blue Whale. We do not know for sure how long Blue |
| dinosaurs. They have been weighed up to 180 tons | | | | Whale pairs might stay together because it is so |
| which is 20,000 pounds heavier than a DC-10. The | | | | difficult to track them as they cross entire oceans. Blue |
| world's largest elephants only weigh a bit over five | | | | Whales can rarely be found in groups 45 whales if |
| tons. | | | | there is a lot of food (krill) in the area - however this is |
| Blue Whales have been measured by scientists up to | | | | very rare because they do not usually form large pods |
| 100 feet long, although today the largest average | | | | like some other species of whales. |
| around 75 - 80 feet. They have been measured at | | | | Blue Whales are very strong swimmers and usually |
| more than 110 feet - compare that to the longest | | | | travel at 12 miles per hour. When they are excited |
| dinosaur skeleton of less than 90 feet from tail to | | | | they have been clocked at 30 miles per hour! |
| nose. | | | | The Guinness book of world records claims that the |
| Interestingly, one of the smallest seabirds on earth, | | | | heartbeat of a Blue Whale can be heard for 19 miles " |
| Cassins Auklet, and the Blue Whale, the largest animal | | | | thats totally untrue; nobody can hear the heartbeat of |
| ever to have lived on earth, both subsist primarily on | | | | a Blue Whale from 10 feet, let alone 19 miles. |
| the same prey: krill. Blue Whales are baleen whales. | | | | In the 1800's there were hundreds of thousands of |
| Instead of teeth, they have a series of flexible plates | | | | Blue Whales all over the world. Then man developed |
| called baleen that they use to strain up to four tons of | | | | weapons such as guns and exploding harpoons an |
| these tiny shrimp like crustaceans from the ocean | | | | proceeded to nearly eliminate these wonderful animals |
| each day. | | | | in the early twentieth century. Blue Whales were |
| Blue Whales sometimes cross-breed with Fin Whales | | | | hunted mercilessly for 40 years until they were nearly |
| which are the second largest animals on earth. At | | | | extinct. Protection began in 1966 and their population is |
| least four of these unique hybrid whales exhibiting | | | | slowly recovering with perhaps 6,000 to 8,000 Blue |
| characteristics of each parent have been documented | | | | Whales left worldwide today. |
| by scientists by analyzing DNA. | | | | |