Scientific Name
Balaenoptera musculus
Whale SENSE Region Found
ALASKA
ATLANTIC
Protection Status
Endangered throughout its range
Protected throughout its range
Where to Watch:
Deep, open ocean and in cooler waters
What to Watch For:
Diving:
Body:
- Mottled blue-gray color appears light blue under water—hence their name, the blue whale
- Broad, flattened head
- Long, slender flippers
- Relatively small, often stubby dorsal fin positioned far along back
- Very thick tail stock
- Massive slender flukes, with smooth trailing edges
Associations: Often found alone or in pairs
Feeding
The primary diet of blue whales is krill—tiny shrimp-like animals, but fish and copepods (tiny crustaceans) may occasionally be part of the blue whale’s diet. When blue whales hunt for food, they filter feed by swimming toward large schools of krill with their mouth open and closing their mouths around the krill while inflating their throat pleats. Once closed, blue whales then push the trapped water out of their mouth with their tongue and use their baleen plates to keep the krill trapped inside.
Mating and Calving
Scientists know little about the life history of the blue whale. The best available science suggests the gestation period is approximately 10 to 12 months. Weaning probably occurs at around 6 to 7 months on, or en route to, summer feeding areas. The age of sexual maturity is thought to be 5 to 15 years. Most reproductive activity, including births and mating, takes place during the winter. The average calving interval is probably 2 to 3 years.
Did You Know?
- Blue whales are the largest animals ever to live on our planet.
- Blue whales are found in all oceans except the Arctic Ocean.
- There are five currently recognized subspecies of blue whales.
- 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.
- hey are among the loudest animals on the planet, emitting a series of pulses, groans, and moans, and it is thought that in the right oceanographic conditions, sounds emitted by blue whales can be heard by other whales up to 1,000 miles away.
- The oldest known blue whale was around 110 years old
- The largest blue whales live near Antarctica and can reach up to 110 feet in length!
Threats to blue whales
