Blue whale how much does it weigh

While commercial whaling is no longer a threat, recovery has been slow and new threats plague blue whales, like ship strikes and the impact of climate change. There is one population of around 2, blue whales off the coast of California, but all told there are only around 10, to 25, individuals left.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. By Melissa Breyer.

Melissa Breyer. She is a sustainability expert and author whose work has been published by the New York Times and National Geographic, among others. Learn about our editorial process. Share Twitter Pinterest Email. So an adult blue whale can weigh as much as adult African elephants.

The idea of a single creature weighing as much as an entire herd of elephants is just crazy. They weigh as much as 8 large school buses. Recently, scientists preserved the heart of a foot 23 meters female blue whale. The poor thing got trapped underneath ice, drowned and her body washed up on the coast of Newfoundland in As tragic as this was, it gave scientists the opportunity to dissect the whale and study it.

The heart only weighed about pounds kilograms. Like I said, huge and really impressive. But, not the size of foot-long Volkswagen and almost half a ton lighter than some sources claim. The basic dimensions of the preserved blue whale heart are roughly 5 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet 1. Although, I really would not recommend trying to actually have a dinner party inside the heart of a blue whale. Female blue whales give birth to a single calf every years. Calves outweigh the average American car by over 2, pounds and are as long as an ambulance.

These giants live pretty solitary lives. As adults, blue whales really only gather together for mating. Otherwise, they might never find each other. These gentle giants are the second loudest animals on earth. They can produce sounds that are over decibels.

To put that in perspective, jet engines only produce sounds up to decibels. That makes a lot of sense when you consider just how huge they are. But still, at top speed, blue whales can get up to about 31 miles per hour 50 kilometers per hour , which is pretty respectable. Blue whales are a lot faster than some other cetaceans. The humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae can only reach speeds of about 17 miles per hour 27 kilometers per hour.

The bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus can get up to about 17 miles per hour 21 kilometers per hour. Blue whales eat one of the tiniest creatures in the sea, krill.

Krill are tiny crustaceans, similar to shrimp, that school in huge numbers as they eat floating algaes. They are a major food source for large filter feeders like blue whales, fin whales Balaenoptera physalus and whale sharks Rhincodon typus.

Blue whales eat them by scooping up giant mouthfuls of water and filtering it through bristle-like structures in their mouths called baleen. Current Population Trend: Increasing. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram. Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo. Share Tweet Email.

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