The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived on this planet. The largest confirmed whale was 109 feet and weighed around 200 tons. Yet it is only when you get an idea of the different body parts of the blue whale that you start to understand how truly magnificent it is. Read on to find out a little more about the big blue whale.
The blue whale is badly named because it is not that blue. The large grey mammal appears bluer while underwater but the Grey Whale (or the Blueish Grey whale) just doesn’t have the same ring to it. For those of you who are struggling to picture 109 feet, try instead to think of a ten-story building, that is the rough height of a blue whale.
The heart of a blue whale is incredibly large too. While the average human has a heart the size of its fist, the blue whale has a heart that is as big as a car. The arteries in the body of a blue whale are so big a human could swim through them. A blue whale doesn’t seem to get too excited though, its heart beats at on average 9 beats per minute (compared to the 70 beats that most humans have). Yet the blue whale has a powerful beat. It is so strong that it could be heard from 3km away.
A blue whale baby is around 25ft long but gains around 200lbs every day. A fast growth spurt! Clearly both the baby and parent need to eat a lot to sustain such a massive body. The average blue whale will eat up to 40 million krill per day! However, during migration periods it can sustain its body without eating for several months.
Hopefully, this quick profile gives you an idea of the size of a blue whale. Don’t worry though, you are unlikely to encounter them on your next boat trip. They are now an endangered species with between 10,000 and 25,000 remaining alive today.