Blue Whales

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Blue Whales are the largest species of whale in the world. Like all whales, they are marine mammals. This means they are warm blooded creatures that spend their whole life in the water but have to come up to the surface to breathe.

Blue Whales are a blue grey colour. The sometimes have mottled patterns on their skin and these become more common the older they get. They have a long streamlined body and a huge head. Their flippers and tail are massive. Like all baleen whales they have two blow holes on top of their head.

Blue Whales are a species of baleen whale, which means they don’t have teeth, and instead have baleen, a type of comb or brush that helps them trap and eat their prey.

They are much bigger than any of the dinosaurs that were once on Earth. Their heart is the size of a small car, their tongue weighs as much as an elephant and a human could crawl through one of its big blood vessels it is so big!

They can be found living in all the oceans of the world. The only place they won’t be found is in the icy waters of the Arctic. They usually move about, depending on the temperature. In the winter they will travel nearer the equator where it is warmer. In the summer they will move towards where it is cooler.

Did you know...

Blue Whales are the biggest animals that have ever been on Earth and can grow up to 25 to 30 metres long.

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Blue Whales became endangered because people were hunting them far too much. In fact sadly they were almost hunted to extinction. Now whale hunting is banned and people are not allowed to hunt Blue Whales so there are more of them around than there once were.

Blue Whales are unfortunately still endangered though despite the fact that whale hunting is now banned. This is because they are affected by pollution in the sea and climate change. They can sometimes struggle to find enough food for these reasons. They sadly can be hurt accidently by ships or fishing nets and equipment as well.

Large Blue Whale Off Southern California Coast by Don Ramey Logan - CC BY-SA 3.0

Blue Whales eat tiny crustaceans called krill. Can you imagine how many they would have to eat to fill its gigantic stomach? Its estimated they probably eat around 40 million krill a day! They eat their prey by taking huge gulps of sea water, filled with the tiny krill. They then push the water back out through their baleen, which lets the water out but keeps the krill inside. It works a bit like a sieve! They can then swallow their food and then take another massive gulp.

Blue Whales either live on their own or with a small number of other Blue Whales. If there is lots of food however sometimes a big number of Blue Whales can be found in the same place, until they drift off in different directions again.

Blue Whales give birth to live young, which are called calves. They are pregnant for a long time, 12 months, which is one year! Calves drink a lot of milk from their mothers when they are born and grow very quickly. When they are first born they are already about 8 metres long! Blue Whales live for a long time, often living up until they are 90 years old.

Not only are Blue Whales the biggest creatures on Earth, they are also the loudest. Blue Whales communicate with each other incredibly loudly. The noises they make can be heard 1000 miles away by other Blue Whales!

What we've learnt...

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I wonder...what was your favourite fact?

Blue Whales are endangered. Hunting is now banned but before this Blue Whales were hunted so much they almost became extinct.

Now Blue Whales are still endangered because of pollution, climate change and being accidently hurt by ships or getting tangled up in fishing equipment.

Blue Whales are the biggest living creature that has ever lived.

Blue Whales are mammals. They have to come up to the surface to breathe.

Blue Whales are a species of baleen whale. This means they don’t have teeth, but baleen instead, which is a bit like a brush or comb. They use this to eat huge amounts of tiny krill.