The Blue Whale (Sulpher Bottom)

Josh Stolz

ClassificationKingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Balaenopteridae

Genus: Balaenoptera

Species: Musculus

Physical Characteristics• Biggest moving and living

organism on Earth• Length of an adult: about 85-

100 feet long.• About 20 people would equal

the length of one Blue Whale.• Can weigh up to approximately

200 tons.• About 1400 people put together

would make up one Blue Whale.• Tail is about 25 feet long from

tip to tip.• The Female is slightly larger

than the male in almost every way.

• Biggest Blue Whale ever recorded was about 110 feet long.

• No torpor or hibernation

Habitat and Distribution

• The Blue Whale lives in every Ocean, but is very rare within its areas of living.

• Lives in cold and temperate waters or tropical and coastal areas.

Behavior • Generally lives alone or

in pairs.

• May live in loose pods for short times during mating season.

• A true example of a gentle giant.

Diet• Mainly eats small shrimp-

like creatures called krill.• Eats about 4 tons of krill

per day.• Also can eat small fish if

especially hungry or can’t find krill to eat

• Does not have teeth, so it uses baleen, a fingernail-like material, to trap food in its mouth to swallow later.

Conservation Status

• Currently listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List

• Only about 10,000-25,000 left from over 375,000 before hunting and pollution.

• The population is increasing. • Under protection by the International Whaling

Commission (IWC).

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Breeding• Mating Season

is all year, but mostly in the Summer.

• Females will mate with only 1 male per 9-12 months, but males with multiple females.

• Females will take 9-12 months to give birth after mating.

• Females have 1 calf per litter.

Parental Care• Blue Whale calves

are taken care of by their moms.

• The dad does not care for the calf at all.

• Blue whale calves are about 15 meters long at birth.

• Calves will stay with their mothers for about 2-3 years before going out on their own.

Predator/Prey Relationships

• Can be preyed on by Great White Sharks and Pods of Orcas (Killer Whales).

• Not that many other creatures prey on the Blue Whale due to its size, but may be attacked by other sharks if the sharks are starving.

Human Relationships• Were once hunted for

food, blubber, and wax.• Over 350,000 Blue

Whales were killed in the 1900’s.

• Can get hit by large boats and caught in nets and drown.• Pollution has killed

and is killing many of these creatures, so do anything you can NOT to pollute our waters or air.

Longevity and Mortality• A Blue Whale will

generally live for 80 to 90 years in the wild.

• The longest living Blue Whale ever discovered was about 110 years old.

• Males mature at about just under 5 years old while females mature at about 6 years old.

Fun Facts• There are no Blue

Whales in captivity.

• You can tell how old one is by seeing how many layers of skin it has in its ear.

• A Blue Whales stomach is yellow because of millions and millions of microorganisms that live just under its thick skin.

Works Cited1. Best-Diving. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://best-

diving.org/images/Adrenaline_DivingWall/diving%20blue%20whale.jpg>.

2. Blue Whales. N.p.: VoyageurPress, n.d. Print.3. National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

<http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/blue-whale/>.

4. Tumbler Incline. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://media.tumblr.com/bcc55492554dd5106feefa4cb0342aa3/tumblr_inline_mhclhpHIsW1qz4rgp.jpg>.

5. WhaleFacts.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.whalefacts.org/blue-whale-facts/>.

6. Wild Blue. New York: N.p., n.d. Print.

Works Cited

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