The blue whale is
an extremely large marine mammal
, with a long, torpedo-shaped body. They have blue-gray colored skin, with a slightly lighter colored underside; they have two pectoral fins, a small dorsal fin on their backs, and a large fluke. … The pectoral fins on either side of the whale are used to steer.
What are 5 facts about blue whales?
- Blue Whales Can Grow More Than 100 Feet Long. They are gigantic. …
- They Can Weigh as Much as 30 Elephants. …
- They Have Big Hearts. …
- They Have Big Tongues, Too. …
- They Have the Biggest Babies on Earth. …
- They’re Unusually Loud.
- They Eat a Lot of Krill. …
- They’re Pretty Fast.
Why are blue whales called blue whales?
Blue whales get their name
from their gray to blue coloration
. If conditions are right, diatoms (planktonic photosynthesizers) will build up on their stomachs and make their undersides look yellowish. They are much longer than they are wide and have a small dorsal fin.
What are blue whales habits?
They generally spend
summers feeding in polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations towards the equatorial waters as winter arrives
. Blue whales typically swim at about 5 miles an hour while they are feeding and traveling, but can accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour for short bursts.
What special abilities do blue whales have?
As you would expect from the largest animal on the planet, Blue Whales have
exceptionally deep voices
and are able to be vocal at frequencies as low as 14 Hz – well below the ability of human hearing – with a volume greater than 180 decibels, which makes the Blue Whale the loudest animal on the planet.
Do blue whales eat humans?
Despite their large size,
blue whales do not eat people
. Actually, they couldn’t eat a person no matter how hard they tried to. … Without teeth, they lack the ability to tear apart their prey, so it would likely be impossible for these baleen whales to eat a human.
What is the largest whale ever?
The Antarctic blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus
What does blue whale look like?
The blue whale is an extremely large marine mammal, with a
long, torpedo-shaped body
. They have blue-gray colored skin, with a slightly lighter colored underside; they have two pectoral fins, a small dorsal fin on their backs, and a large fluke.
How big is a blue whale’s heart?
A blue whale’s heart is the biggest on the planet,
weighing 400 pounds
. That’s the weight of about 35 gallon paint cans. A blue whale’s heart is only 1% of its body weight – however the whale’s immense weight is supported by water.
How much does a whale eat a day?
An average-sized humpback whale will eat
4,400-5,500 pounds (2000-2500 kg)
of plankton, krill and small, schooling fish each day during the feeding season in cold waters (about 120 days). They eat twice a day.
Do blue whales have emotions?
The evidence suggests that whales and
dolphins are not only conscious
, and that bottlenose dolphins, at least, are self-awareness, but also that they have complex brain structure for complex function, that they often live in complex societies, that they are capable of experiencing a range of emotions.
What is the largest animal today?
The Antarctic blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus
Why are blue whales so important?
Whales are an important part of
the marine food chain
and play a huge role in maintaining the health of our oceans. … Their iron-rich poo is a really important source of nutrients in the marine food chain, promoting Southern Ocean productivity, which boosts fishery yields.
Can a human get swallowed by a whale?
As you have probably gathered by now, even though it is technically possible to survive being swallowed by a whale,
it’s extremely unlikely
. But luckily for us, whales are generally not that interested in humans. If you are going to worry about anything eating you in the water, it should probably be sharks.
Has a whale ever killed a human?
In the wild,
there have been no fatal recorded attacks on humans
. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s.
Has a whale ever swallowed a person?
Despite occasional reports of whales scooping people into their mouths, it’s incredibly rare—and for all but one species, swallowing a human is physically impossible. On Friday, a lobster diver made headlines when he described miraculously surviving being “swallowed” by a
humpback whale
off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
