"And God created great fish" ( Genesis 1:21 ). And the largest of them, of course, is the mysterious blue whale. Scientists are still trying to figure out how such a huge mammal, which breathes air and has a stomach the size of a minibus, can be so well adapted to life at depth.

Somewhere in the depths of the ocean swims the largest creature that has ever lived on land or in water. Its weight is comparable to that of thirty adult elephants, and its mouth is so huge that a whole bus could drive into it; Every day a whale eats tons of food. But if the size of the prey exceeds the size of the shrimp, it will not fall into his menu, because this monster - the blue whale - has no teeth at all.

Length of the largest blue whale ( Balaenoptera muscle), which scientists were able to measure, was 30 meters. However, there are records that in 1909 a whale was caught at a whaling station, the length of which exceeded 34 meters. A blue whale can weigh more than 150 tons. Even the long-necked dinosaurs, whose length from the nose to the end of the tail could exceed the length of the whale, probably never even approached the weight of the blue whale in their weight.

Why is your mouth so big?

A large body requires a large mouth to feed itself. When the blue whale opens its mouth to take a huge gulp of ocean water, the thick layer of accordion-shaped skin folds open like a huge soap bubble that can hold 5,000 gallons (57 kiloliters) of liquid. However, the whale does not swallow water.

© Doc White | SeaPics. com

He releases most of the water back, closing his mouth and squeezing the liquid through special plates located in his mouth. Tons of tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill are trapped by these plates, and then the whale swallows the prey. Just imagine filling your entire kitchen with shrimp and then gobbling it down in one massive gulp!

Great blue whales belong to a subgroup of toothless whales. Instead of teeth, they have flexible plates called baleen. They are located in the whale's mouth very close together and directed in such a way that water can be squeezed out through them. Whalebones are made of the protein keratin (the same material that makes up human nails), which gives them strength and flexibility enough for a whale to close its mouth with ease.

Because the great blue whale is unable to grab prey with its teeth, it must swim with its mouth wide open to swallow as much krill as possible. According to recent research, great blue whales dive to great depths and emerge upward, capturing huge schools of krill as they go. To hold such a huge mouth open and then to close it while moving forward requires enormous muscle strength. This process is read as "the largest mechanical act in the entire animal kingdom." 1

Whale Communication

Great blue whales are mysterious animals. They have been quite difficult to study because they were hunted to extinction in the last century, and they do not migrate in groups like other whales. Researchers have found that great blue whales swim across vast expanses of ocean and individually swim in different directions from each other. However, scientists recently discovered that a male and female whale can swim in pairs. Perhaps whales find long-term partners, and the impression that they live separately may be due to the fact that they spend so much time apart.

Great blue whales are able to communicate with each other over hundreds of miles by sending low-frequency sound waves (infrasounds), too low a frequency for the human ear to hear. So while it may seem that great blue whales are solitary, the sounds they make suggest otherwise - they are constantly communicating with each other.

Moreover, blue whales' hearing is probably the most important way they sense their surroundings; it seems that their vision and sense of smell are limited. The great blue whale's ears are spaced very far apart - about 4.6 meters apart - but this ideal structural feature helps them use sound to locate their friends.

Two whales that make sounds at the same frequency can determine the distance between themselves and the location of each other by the intensity of the sounds - just as we are able to determine by sound where a car is and where it is moving - towards us , or from us. Some scientists believe that great blue whales can use sound to locate krill habitats.

However, one of the greatest mysteries of the great blue whale is how they make a sound so loud that it can be heard hundreds of miles away. Like other living creatures, blue whales have a throat or larynx to amplify sound, but researchers have not found a vocal apparatus in the whale with which they produce this sound.

It also turns out that blue whales make sounds at a frequency that is only slightly higher than the sounds of the earth (yes, the earth does make sounds at several frequencies) and slightly lower than the sounds of the waves. If the frequency they used was marginally higher or lower than that used by the whales, it would be lost in the background noise.

Jonah in the belly of the blue whale?

Could it be that Jonah was swallowed by a blue whale? Creationists are not entirely sure which sea creature swallowed Jonah.2 The blue whale is considered one candidate because it has the ability to do so.

We also know from the biblical narrative that Jonah drowned in the depths of the ocean. Blue whales swim to deep water and then surface to catch their prey. It is also believed that the whale needs to absorb a large volume of air in order to make such loud sounds. Therefore, inside the blue whale, Jonah should have had enough space, food and air; furthermore, Jonah would not have to be exposed to the teeth.

But more importantly, we know for sure: by God's grace, Jonah was saved from the depths of the ocean, and was not eaten by this large animal, as could have happened. What a wonderful picture of how our Great Savior Jesus Christ can save any of us from the intricacies and destructive weight of sin, no matter how deep we have sunk - we have only to call on Him (see Jonah 2:1-7)!

Did you know?

The blue whale has the largest calves in the world. At birth, they reach 7.6 meters in length and can gain 90 kilograms in weight every day.

Blue whales are capable of communicating with other blue whales over hundreds of miles. Moreover, there is a certain layer of water in which they can send and receive signals at a distance of 2000 miles. In this water layer, sounds can travel very quickly without dissipating. The sound is "channeled" by a low-density water layer located at the top and a low-density water layer located at the bottom. This channel is called the deep-sea sound channel.

The heart of a blue whale reaches the size of a mini-car.

There are nine groups of blue whales in the ocean. The largest of them, the Californian one, has approximately 2,000 individuals. There are about 10 thousand blue whales worldwide. Scientists believe that before the development of whaling in the early twentieth century, there were hundreds of thousands of them.

A large blue whale can hold up to 1 ton (3.6 metric tons) of krill in its stomach, and it can eat more than 4 tons in a day.

Class: mammals
Order: cetaceans
Family: striped
Genus: minke whale
View: muscle
Size: up to 33.5 meters long and 150 tons
Diet: Krill (microscopic shrimp-like animals)
Habitat: deep water in the world's oceans

Dr. Joe Francis, professor of biological sciences at Masters College, received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University and then a postdoctoral degree from the Medical University of Michigan. Dr. Francis is one of the board members of the Creation Biology Research Group.

“Sea monster” is the translation from Greek of the word κῆτος (whale), applied to all cetaceans except porpoises and dolphins. But, answering the question “how much does a whale weigh”, we cannot do without dolphins. This family contains a monster heavier than many real whales - the killer whale.

Whale weight by species

Whales deservedly bear the title of the heaviest animals, both terrestrial and aquatic.. The cetacean order consists of 3 suborders, one of which (ancient whales) has already disappeared from the face of the Earth. The other two suborders are toothed and baleen whales, which are distinguished by the structure of the mouth apparatus and the type of food closely associated with it. The oral cavity of toothed whales is equipped, as it is logical to assume, with teeth, which allows them to hunt big fish and squid.

On average, toothed whales are inferior in size to representatives of the baleen suborder, but among these carnivores there are amazing heavyweights:

• sperm whale – up to 70 tons;
• northern swimmer – 11–15 tons;
• narwhal - females up to 0.9 tons, males at least 2–3 tons (where a third of the weight is fat);
• white whale (beluga) – 2 tons;
• dwarf sperm whale – from 0.3 to 0.4 tons.

Important! Porpoises stand somewhat apart: although they are included in the suborder of toothed whales, in a strict classification they do not belong to whales, but to cetaceans. Porpoises weigh about 120 kg.

Now let's look at dolphins, which pedantic ketologists also deny the right to be called true whales, allowing them to be called cetaceans in the group of toothed whales (!).

Baby whale weight at birth

When born, a blue whale calf weighs 2–3 tons with a body length of 6–9 meters. Every day, due to the exceptional fat content of mother's milk (40–50%), he becomes heavier by 50 kg, drinking more than 90 liters of a valuable product per day. The cub does not come off the mother's breast for 7 months, gaining 23 tons by this age.

Important! By the time of the transition to self-feeding, the young whale grows up to 16 m, and by its one and a half years, the 20-meter "baby" already weighs 45-50 tons. He will approach adult weight and height no earlier than 4.5 years, when he himself becomes able to reproduce offspring.

Only a little behind the newborn blue whale is the baby fin whale, which at birth weighs 1.8 tons and is 6.5 meters long. The female feeds it with milk for six months until the child doubles its height.

Cubs

Blue whales breed every 2 years in warm waters, mainly in winter. But the sharp difference in the size of embryos obtained at the same time indicates a greater prolongation of mating periods. Pregnancy lasts about 11 months. There is one cub in the litter. Females feed the calf with milk for about 7 months (the fat content of whale milk is 34-50%). During this period, the cub grows up to 16 m and has a mass of 23 tons. During the day, it gains weight of 80-100 kg while consuming 90 kg of milk, the linear increase is more than 4 cm per day, and by one and a half years it increases to 20 m and 45- 50 tons. Puberty occurs at 4-5 years, as evidenced by 8-10 layers in the ear plugs, which are used to determine age. Females at this time reach a length of 23 m. They reach full growth and physical maturity at a body length of 26-27 m, which probably happens at 14-15 years.

Outlines

• huge size
• blue-gray body color
• noticeable spots
• small short dorsal fin
• tall fountain
• wide flat head
• extremely thick caudal peduncle
• a single longitudinal projection extends from the blowhole to the end of the snout
• may show caudal fin

The largest mammal on earth is without a doubt the blue whale. To date, an even larger representative of the deep sea has not been discovered. The blue whale is impressive in size. Its length is almost 34 meters, and its weight is more than 200 tons.

However, the largest whale in the world has more than just a huge body size. He just has incredibly large internal organs. And only one tongue weighs so much that it’s hard to imagine: 4 thousand kilograms. Well, the heart of a blue whale weighs about 700 kilograms. However, such impressive sizes are not uncommon for the ocean. Few people know that back in 1870, the largest jellyfish was found off the coast of North America. The Cyaneus jellyfish was more than 35 meters long. To more clearly imagine its size, you can compare it with the height of a 9-story building.

3 ton baby

When a small whale is born (or more accurately, into the water), it already weighs about three tons. The length of the cub is comparable to a small tree - 6-7 meters. For a person, these are already unimaginable sizes; it is difficult to imagine a living creature of such dimensions. Every year the whales only grow, moreover, a small whale is pulled out at a high speed. At the same time, whales, according to various sources, can live up to hundreds of years. However, despite their active growth and life expectancy, whales produce offspring very slowly. Females of the largest whale in the world reach sexual maturity only at the age of ten, and they give birth no more often than once every two years. Mammals, unlike humans, carry the fetus for about 12 months. Despite such circumstances, powerful and noble mammals are now being destroyed mercilessly.

And they do this at such a speed that blue whales do not even have time to reach their maternal age, that is, they die in childhood. The largest whales now do not populate the oceans so abundantly; their population is decreasing exponentially. They are now on the verge of extinction. In Japan, for example, fishing is so intense that there are practically no whales left there.

Initially, the number of blue whales (this was before the start of intensive fishing) was estimated at 215 thousand individuals. But it is quite difficult to calculate the modern livestock. And the reason is quite simple. For many decades, these mammals were not very actively studied. According to data for 1984, no more than 1,900 whales live in the Northern Hemisphere, while in the Southern Hemisphere there are more - approximately 10 thousand heads. True, half of them are of the dwarf subspecies. Now, according to some data, there are no more than 2 thousand blue whales in the entire world's oceans. True, according to the calculations of other experts, the figures are more optimistic - at least 8 thousand individuals.

Killer whale victim

However, blue whales can die not only at human hands. The mammal can also become a victim of its marine neighbors. You might think that adult whales, due to their gigantic size, have no natural enemies. However, they may still fall out of favor with killer whales. The latter gather in schools, tear blue whales apart and eat them. And cases of attacks have already been recorded. So, in 1979, a pod of 30 killer whales attacked a young blue whale.

Killer whales rushed at their prey, tearing pieces off it. Moreover, the attackers did not even know where to bite - on the head, sides or back. And in 1990, two large whales were described that were seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They had scars in the form of parallel stripes, judging by them, the mammals had traces of the teeth of killer whales.

Gray-blue

The color of the blue whale, surprisingly, is not blue, but mostly gray, but with a blue tint. And the mammal was nicknamed blue because when you look at a whale through the water, it seems exactly blue, or blue. At the same time, the fins and belly of the animal are lighter than the rest of the body.

Blue whales live in both warm and cold waters. These are polar and tropical seas. The creatures have no teeth, but despite this, they feed on all kinds of small sea creatures, for example, plankton or small fish. The largest whale in the world has a “baleen” for food. This is a device that looks more like a brush or a huge sieve. It is capable of passing through itself elements that are unnecessary for nutrition, and in addition, filtering water. A blue whale cannot eat a person, even if it really wants to. Therefore, the mammal is considered almost safe for humans. However, an inhabitant of the seas and oceans can easily overturn a medium-sized watercraft, not on purpose, but simply by accidentally hitting it.

Almost bipedal

There is a theory according to which whales came into the water from land. Proof of this is the structural features of the skeleton of a mammal, which does not really resemble a fish. The blue whale even has tufted fingers on its fins. Moreover, the blue whale does not lay eggs or spawn; it produces already living organisms.

Blue whale in nature

It is worth noting that whales have a very poor sense of smell and vision. Therefore, the largest whale in the world communicates with its fellow whales exclusively through sounds. And in order for other mammals to hear the cry, the whale has to put up to 20 hertz into the message. And this is enough to transmit information over a huge distance - individuals are able to hear each other at a distance of up to 800 kilometers and even more. However, if the whale overdoes it and screams with more or less force, then its brothers will not hear it. And whales are not capable of understanding anyone. For the most part, these mammals are loners.

The blue whale, as a rule, does not form herds. But sometimes mammals still gather in groups, but they are not numerous, only 2-3 heads. Only where there is a lot of food can large aggregations be found. However, even in such groups, blue whales stay apart from each other.

The largest whale in the world was caught

The mammal is not as maneuverable as other large cetaceans. Whales' movements are slow and clumsy. And they are active only during the daytime, this is evidenced by the fact that, for example, off the coast of California, individuals stop their movements at night. In general, the life of blue whales at night is still little studied.
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The blue whale or blue whale is a marine animal that is a member of the cetacean order. The blue whale belongs to the baleen whales of the genus minke whales. The blue whale is the largest whale on the planet. In this article you will find a description and photo of a blue whale, you will learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of this huge and amazing animal.

The blue whale looks very huge, but it has an elongated and slender body. The large head of this whale is equipped with small eyes and a sharp muzzle with a wide lower jaw. The blue whale has a blowhole, from which it releases a vertical fountain of water up to 10 meters high when exhaling. On the head in front of the blowhole, the blue whale has a noticeable longitudinal ridge called the “breakwater”.

The blue whale has a dorsal fin that is strongly displaced back. This fin is very small and has the shape of a pointed triangle. The back edge of the whale's fin is covered with scratches, which form an individual pattern for each whale. Using such patterns, researchers can distinguish each individual. The length of this fin is only 35 cm.

The blue whale has narrow, elongated pectoral fins that reach up to 4 meters in length. The caudal fin of the blue whale reaches up to 8 meters in width, it has a thick caudal peduncle and a small notch. All these elements help the blue whale easily control its large body in the water.

The blue whale looks very unusual thanks to its longitudinal stripes. Like all minke whales, the blue whale has many longitudinal stripes on the underside of its head that continue down its throat and belly. These stripes are formed by folds of the skin and help the blue whale's throat stretch when it swallows large volumes of water and food. A blue whale usually has about 60-70 such stripes, but there can be more.

The blue whale is the largest whale of all cetaceans at present. Also, the blue whale is the largest animal on Earth. The size of the blue whale is enormous and makes a strong impression. The giants, 30 meters long and weighing more than 150 tons, are amazing. In blue whales, females are slightly larger than males.

The largest blue whale known is a female, which had a length of 33 meters, with a body weight of 190 tons. Among males, the largest blue whale weighed 180 tons, with a body length of 31 meters. Huge blue whales over 30 meters long are extremely rare today. Therefore, in our time, the length of the blue whale has decreased somewhat. At the same time, the mass of the blue whale also became slightly smaller.

The length of male blue whales varies from 23 to 25 meters. The length of the blue whale in females ranges from 24 to 27 meters. The weight of the blue whale is no less impressive than its length. The weight of a blue whale ranges from 115 to 150 tons. Individuals that live in the Northern Hemisphere are a couple of meters smaller in size than those that live in the Southern Hemisphere.

The vision and sense of smell of the great blue whale are poorly developed. But his hearing and sense of touch are well developed. The great blue whale has a huge lung capacity. The amount of blood in a large blue whale is over 8 thousand liters. The tongue of a blue whale weighs up to 4 tons. Despite such impressive numbers, the blue whale has a narrow throat, its diameter is only 10 cm. The heart of the blue whale weighs a whole ton and is the largest heart in the entire animal kingdom. However, his pulse is usually 5-10 beats per minute and rarely exceeds 20 beats.

The skin of the blue whale looks smooth and even, except for the existing stripes on the throat and belly. Blue whales are almost never overgrown with various crustaceans, which often settle on other whales in large quantities. The blue whale looks rather monotonous. He has predominantly gray skin color, with a blue tint. Sometimes the blue whale looks grayer, and sometimes its color has more blue tones. The blue whale's lower jaw and head are the darkest in color, the back is lighter, and the sides and belly are the lightest on the entire body.

There are gray spots along the body of the blue whale; they have different shapes and sizes. By these spots you can distinguish one or another whale. This coloring makes the blue whale look like it is made of marble. In the tail part the number of spots increases. The pectoral fins of the blue whale on the inside are much lighter in color than the rest of the body. However, the underside of the tail is much darker than the rest of the body. Through the water column, this whale looks absolutely blue, which is why the blue whale is called blue.

In cold waters, the color of the blue whale takes on a greenish tint, as the skin of this mammal becomes overgrown with microscopic algae, which form a film on its skin. The acquisition of this shade is characteristic of all baleen whales. When the whales return to warmer waters, this coating disappears.

Inside the mouth of this giant there are plates of whalebone, about a meter long, which consist of keratin. The longest plates of whalebone are in the back rows, and in the front part their length decreases to 50 cm. These plates reach a width of about half a meter. One baleen plate can weigh up to 90 kg. In total, the blue whale has 800 plates on its upper jaw, 400 on each side. The blue whale's baleen is a rich black color. The baleen plates have the shape of an inverted triangle, the top of which is broken into a hair-like fringe, which is quite rough and tough.

There are three subspecies of blue whale - northern, southern and dwarf, which are slightly different from each other. Sometimes another subspecies is identified - the Indian blue whale. The first two subspecies prefer cold circumpolar waters, while the rest inhabit mainly tropical seas. All subspecies have almost the same lifestyle. The lifespan of a blue whale is quite long and can be 90 years; the oldest whale was 110 years old. The average lifespan of blue whales is 40 years.

Previously, the blue whale's habitat was the entire world's oceans. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of huge blue whales began to decline rapidly due to active fishing. The gigantic size of the animal's carcass attracted whalers. After all, you could get a lot of fat and meat from one big blue whale. So by 1960, the blue whale was almost destroyed and was on the verge of complete extinction; no more than 5 thousand individuals remained.

Now the great blue whale is still very rare - the total number of these animals is about 10 thousand individuals. The main threat to blue whales is sea pollution and disruption of their normal way of life. Also, the growth in the number of blue whales is influenced by their slow natural reproduction.

The blue whale lives in the waters of many states and territories throughout our planet. Previously, the blue whale's habitat occupied the entire world's oceans. Now the blue whale lives in different waters, depending on the subspecies. The northern and southern subspecies of blue whales live in cold waters. The southern subspecies is mainly found in cold subantarctic waters. Dwarf whales prefer life in warmer waters.

The blue whale animal rises quite far to the north - southern blue whales have been spotted off the coast of Chile, South Africa and Namibia. In the Indian Ocean, the blue whale lives in equatorial waters all year round. They are especially often seen near Ceylon and the Maldives, as well as in the Gulf of Aden and the Seychelles. These are the best places on the planet for those who want to see whales.

In the Pacific Ocean, blue whales are found off the coast of Chile. But they are absent off the coast from Costa Rica to California. At the same time, blue whales are becoming numerous in California waters. The blue whale lives from the Oregon coast to the Kuril Islands and to the Aleutian ridge, but does not go far into the Bering Sea.

Great blue whales are no longer present in waters near Japan and Korea, but were once present. Blue whales are extremely rare in Russian waters. Small groups and single animals were seen near Cape Lopatka (the southernmost point of the Kamchatka Peninsula).

In the North Atlantic Ocean, blue whales are few in number compared to the number of individuals in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North Atlantic, the blue whale lives off the coast of Canada, in the areas between Nova Scotia and Davis Strait.

Blue whales are found off Iceland and in the Denmark Strait. Previously, the blue whale lived off the northwestern coast of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and the coast of Norway. Occasionally, blue whales can be found off the coast of Spain and Gibraltar.

Blue whales are known to migrate. Whales spend the summer in the high latitudes of both hemispheres, but with the onset of winter, they migrate to warmer areas of lower latitudes. Winter migrations of the blue whale in the North Atlantic are poorly studied. It is still unclear why blue whales always leave Antarctica in winter and go north to warmer waters. Even though the previous location still has enough food.

This probably happens because females, when giving birth to their young, tend to move them away from cold areas. Because blue whale calves have a poorly developed fat layer and are therefore not sufficiently protected from the cold. After all, the developed fat layer helps maintain the body temperature of blue whales even in the coldest waters.

Blue whales live alone, sometimes in small groups. But even in groups they swim separately. The blue whale is a diurnal mammal. The blue whale lives using vocal signals to communicate with its relatives. The sounds that the blue whale makes are infrasounds. They are very intense. Blue whales use infrasound signals to communicate over long distances during migrations.

Blue whales are able to communicate using signals over distances of up to 33 km. The blue whale's voice is extremely loud. There are known cases of recording the very intense voice of a blue whale at a distance of 200, 400 and even 1600 km. The blue whale also uses its signals to find a partner to start a family.

In general, the blue whale lives with a greater tendency to be alone than all other cetaceans. But sometimes blue whales live in small groups. In places where there is an abundance of food, they can create noticeable aggregations, which are divided into small groups. In these groups, blue whales keep to themselves. But the total number of such aggregations of blue whales can reach 50-60 individuals.

The blue whale can dive quite deep. The blue whale is capable of diving to depths of up to 500 meters for up to 50 minutes. Typical dives for a feeding blue whale are between 100 and 200 meters deep. Such dives last from 5 to 20 minutes.

A feeding whale dives rather leisurely. After surfacing, the whale's breathing accelerates, and it emits a fountain. When breathing is restored, the whale dives again. A blue whale at rest breathes up to 4 times per minute. Young whales breathe more frequently than adults. After a long dive to depth, the blue whale makes a series of short surfaces and shallow dives. During this time, the whale swims 40-50 meters.

The blue whale looks quite imposing and impressive when it jumps out of the water. The most spectacular surfaces are the first one after rising from the depths and the last one before diving. The whale surfaces, showing the very top of its head, then its back, dorsal fin and caudal peduncle.

When a blue whale dives into the depths, it tilts its head downwards. When the head is already deep under water, a part of its back with a fin is shown on the surface, which is always the last to go under water. The whale sinks lower and lower until it disappears under the water, never showing its tail. The blue whale lives by spending 94% of its time underwater.

Over short distances, the blue whale can reach speeds of up to 37 km/h, and in some cases up to 48 km/h. But the whale cannot maintain this speed for a long time, since it is too much stress on the body. The whale produces up to 500 horsepower at this speed. A feeding blue whale moves slowly, within 2-6 km/h. But during migrations its speed increases to 33 km/h.

Because the whale is so large, adult blue whales have no natural predators. But young blue whales can become victims of attacks by a pod of killer whales. These predators drive the whale into the depths in a flock, where it weakens from lack of oxygen. The weakened animal will be able to be torn apart and eaten by killer whales.

There are currently no direct threats to the blue whale population. But there is a danger that long networks of 5 km pose for them. A huge number of marine life die in such nets, although only one case of blue whales dying in them is known. In other cases, according to fishermen, large blue whales easily overcame such nets. Off the coast of Western Canada, blue whales have many markings on their skin from various fishing gear.

Blue whales also die in the Pacific Ocean from collisions with ships, the average is 1-2 cases per year. Some animals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence area have scars from collisions with ships. This is caused by the high concentration of blue whales combined with heavy shipping traffic in the area of ​​these waters. Today, despite the protection of blue whales, even in places where they are most numerous, there are still no restrictions on shipping. There are only recommendations to slow down in these waters, which are not followed by captains.

Nowadays, the greatest threat to blue whales comes from sea pollution, including oil products. Toxic chemicals that enter the sea accumulate in the fatty tissue of blue whales. It is especially dangerous when these substances accumulate in the body of females who are expecting the birth of cubs.

Human impact also affects the number of blue whales by disrupting their communications. The background noise of the sea has recently increased too much and the vocal signals of large baleen whales are often drowned out. After all, the noises that ships make have the same frequency as the voices of whales.

In connection with this, it becomes more difficult for whales to navigate and look for relatives, which also makes it difficult to find a partner during the mating season. The greatest damage in this case is caused by the hydroacoustic systems of warships, which operate in active mode.

The blue whale feeds on plankton, which is typical for baleen whales. The mammal blue whale has an excellent filtering apparatus, which is formed by the plates of the whalebone.

The blue whale feeds on krill, which is the main food in its diet. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on larger crustaceans and small fish. But still, small crustaceans predominate in the blue whale’s food composition. Massive aggregations of such crustaceans are called krill. In the photo below you can see a cluster of krill in the ocean.

Fish plays a minor role in the blue whale's diet. When ingesting masses of krill, the huge blue whale may accidentally ingest small fish, small squid and other marine animals. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on small crustaceans that are not krill.

The blue whale eats the same way as other minke whales. The whale swims slowly with its mouth open and takes in water with a mass of small crustaceans. The whale's mouth is very stretchable thanks to the stripes on the throat and the movable bones of the lower jaw. Having scooped up water with crustaceans, the whale closes its mouth. At the same time, the blue whale's tongue pushes water back through the whalebone. And the plankton that settles on the fringe of the mustache is swallowed.

The huge lower jaw, which is filled with water and food, becomes very heavy. Sometimes the weight is so heavy that it is difficult for the blue whale to move its jaw to close its mouth.

Therefore, the blue whale, taking food into its mouth, turns over on its side or back to make it easier to close. In this position, the mouth closes itself under the influence of gravity.

Due to its size, the blue whale is forced to consume a lot of food - a blue whale can eat from 3 to 8 tons of krill per day. A blue whale needs approximately 1.5 tons of food per day.

The natural growth of the blue whale occurs very slowly. The blue whale is the animal in which this process is the slowest among all baleen whales. Female blue whales give birth once every two years. This period can increase or decrease, it depends on the density of the blue whale population. In recent decades, it has unfortunately declined. The blue whale is a monogamous animal. Blue whales form long-lasting pairs. The male always stays close to the female, both during pregnancy and after the birth of the baby.

The duration of pregnancy for a female blue whale lasts about 11 months. Most often, one blue whale calf is born. The little giant is born 6-8 meters long and weighing 2-3 tons. Immediately after birth, a blue whale calf can move independently. The baby is born tail first. Females have a very developed maternal instinct, they are deeply attached to their cubs.

Blue whale calves, accompanied by females, begin to be seen from December to March. Breastfeeding for blue whale calves lasts about 7 months. During this time, the blue whale calf reaches up to 16 meters in length and weighs 23 tons.

A blue whale calf consumes up to 90 liters of milk per day. Reaching the age of 1.5 years, a blue whale calf grows to 20 meters in length and 45-50 tons of weight. The milk of a female blue whale is very fatty and rich in protein. The fat content in it is from 37 to 50%.

Blue whales become capable of breeding offspring at the age of 8-10 years. By this age, females reach 23 meters and weigh about 90 tons. The blue whale reaches its full length and bodily maturity by 15 years of age.

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Do you know that on our land there lives such a huge animal that in its language your class and the one next door could have a fun time at school? This giant's heart is the size of a small car and weighs about a ton. And his name is blue whale.

This is the largest animal that once existed on our planet. How much does a blue whale weigh? Its weight (up to 150 tons) is more than twice the weight of the largest dinosaur. It is thirty times heavier than the African elephant.

Blue whale food

To weigh that much, you need to eat well. Therefore, a whale consumes a million calories a day (for comparison, you consume no more than 1000). Hundreds of horny plates grow on the upper palate of the whale, forming something like a sieve. They are called whalebone. The cells of this sieve are very small, so tiny crustaceans, small fish and squid are retained in them. But this is enough for the whale. Over the summer, he accumulates so much fat that he may not eat anything for several months.

If you've ever drawn a whale, you've probably also drawn a fountain of water that it throws up. How does this work? Whales are very different from all those living in the water. For example, fish have gills, thanks to which they absorb oxygen dissolved in water. But whales are not fish, they breathe through their lungs, therefore, like us, they cannot stay under water for a long time. A whale's nostrils close underwater with two small valves. In order to take a breath, the whale comes to the surface. There he immediately releases the used air from his lungs, creating a loud noise that can be heard at a great distance. This is how the famous fountain is created. It does not consist of water, as we used to think, but of exhaust air and water vapor.

Blue whale and water

The whale easily dives to great depths of up to a kilometer and can remain underwater without breathing for 40 minutes. In this case, the whale’s blood stops flowing into the vessels of the fins, skin, and tail and feeds only the brain and heart. When a whale is about to dive, it stands vertically upside down in the water and only the caudal fin is visible above the surface. It looks like a sail.

Whales communicate using the loudest sound a living creature can make. It's stronger than the roar of a jet plane. Whales transmit sounds at very low frequencies and they are not absorbed by the ocean. Therefore, two whales can communicate at a distance of up to one and a half thousand kilometers!

The whale is the only animal other than humans that can sing. The blue whale, however, is not very good at this, but some of its relatives are excellent singers. Their songs are repeated sounds and can be transmitted from one whale to another, like a popular tune among people. A typical whale song lasts about fifteen minutes; the longest is about an hour. Often it is repeated note for note, and the whales sing the same melody together! And even female whales sing songs to their babies.

The baby of such giants is born immediately weighing more than 2000 kilograms and 7 meters long. Every day he gains 100 kilograms in weight, drinking 350 liters of mother's milk. And he feeds on milk almost like a human baby - 7 months.

The blue whale is accustomed to roaming the world's oceans, traveling alone, occasionally in pairs, and can live up to 120 years. Previously, hundreds of thousands of blue whales lived on earth, but people really valued whale oil, meat, and whalebone and mercilessly exterminated these animals. It is believed that today there are just over several thousand of them left...

The largest animal in the world in our time is the blue or blue whale.

Back in the twenties of the 20th century, in Antarctica, in the region of the South Shetland Islands, a female blue whale was caught, 33 meters long and, judging by its size, weighing more than 150 tons - this is more than the weight of 50 elephants combined.

Around the same time period, a blue whale 30 meters long entered the Panama Canal. In June 1964, the same giant was caught off the Aleutian Islands - 30 meters in length and weighing 135 tons.

After the collision... In the Barents...

According to statistics, the average size of a blue whale in the northern hemisphere is about 22.8 meters for males, 23.5 meters for females. Whales that live in the Southern Hemisphere tend to be slightly larger than their northern counterparts.

The whale's body is dark gray or blue with a bluish tint; oddly enough, the whale's skin is gray with a blue tint. There is a pattern on the body in the form of huge spots. Each whale has its own special pattern on its skin, like fingerprints. From them you can identify a specific individual. If you look at a whale from above, through the water, it appears blue. This explains the name of the animal.

There are more spots on the back half of the body and on the abdominal part, and slightly fewer on the back and front half. The dorsal fin of the blue whale is small - about 1% of the body length and is set back. The head is wide - when viewed from above, with convex edges to the sides. The heart of a blue whale weighs more than 500 kg, the lungs can hold up to 14 m3 of air, and the diameter of the dorsal aorta reaches the diameter of a ten-liter bucket.

In summer, blue whales are found mostly in the waters of the Antarctic, North Atlantic, Bering and Chukchi Seas. It is practically never found in tropical latitudes.

There are very few blue whales left anywhere. They live in small isolated families, most often separately from other relatives.

In 1959, near the islands of Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard - in the southern hemisphere, a herd of dwarf blue whales - pygmies - was discovered. This herd numbered about 10,000 individuals. These whales are 3 meters shorter than common Antarctic blue whales, have a shorter tail and are lighter in color.

According to the observations of zoologists, it became clear that pygmies do not migrate to warm waters - the spotting of pygmies, which appears after visiting warm waters, is weakly expressed, which means they could have formed from North Atlantic settlers - the tail of pygmies is also short, like that of Newfoundland blue whales.

Thus, there are three subspecies of blue whales: northern, southern and pygmy.

The blue whale feeds on plankton and does not eat fish. The stomach can hold up to 2 tons of crustaceans.

These whales breed offspring every two years - mainly in winter, in warm waters. Pregnancy lasts approximately 11 months. Babies are born weighing about 2-3 tons and a body length of about 8 meters.

Female mothers nurse their young for approximately 7 months. During this time, the height doubles - 16 meters, and the weight approximately ten times - 23 tons. Already in one year, a small blue whale weighs 45-50 tons and has a body 20 meters long.

Most often, a blue whale in the process of hunting swims at a speed of 11-15 km/h, but in exceptional cases it can reach speeds of up to 33-40 km/h. But a blue whale can swim so fast for a very short time.

Often people find carcasses of dead whales washed ashore. Scientists still do not know the reasons why whales wash ashore.

It is difficult to argue with the statement that nature has the most vivid imagination. Each of the representatives of flora and fauna has its own unique, and sometimes even strange, features that often cannot fit into our heads. Take, for example, the same mantis crab. This predatory creature is capable of attacking a victim or offender with its powerful claws at a speed of 83 km/h, and their visual system is one of the most complex ever studied by humans. Mantis crayfish, although fierce, are not particularly large - up to 35 cm in length. The largest inhabitant of the seas and oceans, as well as the planet in general, is the blue whale. The length of this mammal can reach more than 30 meters and weight 150 tons. Despite their impressive size, blue whales can hardly be called formidable hunters, because... they prefer plankton.

The anatomy of blue whales has always been of interest to scientists who want to better understand how such a huge organism and the organs in it work. Despite the fact that we have known about the existence of blue whales for several hundred years (since 1694, to be more precise), these giants have not revealed all of their secrets. Today we will take a look at a study in which a group of scientists from Stanford University developed a device that was used to obtain the first recordings of the heartbeat of a blue whale. How does the heart of the ruler of the seas work, what discoveries have scientists made, and why can’t an organism larger than a blue whale exist? We learn about this from the report of the research group. Go.

Research Hero

The blue whale is the largest mammal, the largest inhabitant of the seas and oceans, the largest animal, the largest whale. What can I say, the blue whale is really the very best in terms of dimensions - length is 33 meters and weight is 150 tons. The numbers are approximate, but no less impressive.

Even the head of this giant deserves a separate line in the Guinness Book of Records, since it occupies about 27% of the total body length. Moreover, the eyes of blue whales are quite small, no larger than a grapefruit. If it is difficult for you to see the eyes of a whale, then you will notice the mouth immediately. A blue whale's mouth can hold up to 100 people (a creepy example, but blue whales don't eat people, at least not intentionally). The large size of the mouth is due to gastronomic preferences: whales eat plankton, swallowing huge volumes of water, which is then released through a filter apparatus, filtering out the food. Under fairly favorable circumstances, the blue whale consumes about 6 tons of plankton per day.

Another important feature of blue whales is their lungs. They are able to hold their breath for 1 hour and dive to depths of up to 100 m. But, like other marine mammals, blue whales periodically emerge to the surface of the water to breathe. When whales rise to the surface of the water, they use a blowhole, a breathing hole made of two large openings (nostrils) on the back of their heads. The exhalation of a whale through its blowhole is often accompanied by a vertical fountain of water up to 10 m high. Considering the characteristics of the whales’ habitat, their lungs work much more efficiently than ours - a whale’s lungs absorb 80-90% of oxygen, and ours only about 15%. The volume of the lungs is about 3 thousand liters, but in humans this figure varies around 3-6 liters.

Model of a blue whale's heart in a museum in New Bedford (USA).

The blue whale's circulatory system is also full of record parameters. For example, their vessels are simply huge; the diameter of the aorta alone is about 40 cm. The heart of blue whales is considered the largest heart in the world and weighs about a ton. With such a big heart, the whale has a lot of blood - more than 8,000 liters in an adult.

And now we smoothly come to the essence of the study itself. The heart of the blue whale is large, as we already understood, but it beats quite slowly. Previously, it was believed that the pulse was about 5-10 beats per minute, in rare cases up to 20. But no one had made accurate measurements until now.

Scientists from Stanford University say that scale is of great importance in biology, especially when it comes to determining the functional features of the organs of living things. The study of various creatures, from mice to whales, allows us to determine the size limits that a living organism cannot exceed. And the heart and cardiovascular system in general are important attributes of such studies.

In marine mammals, whose physiology is completely adapted to their lifestyle, adaptations associated with diving and holding their breath play an important role. It has been found that many of these creatures have heart rates that drop to levels below their resting state during a dive. And having risen to the surface, the heart rate becomes more rapid.

A reduced heart rate during diving is necessary to reduce the rate of oxygen delivery to tissues and cells, thereby slowing down the process of depletion of oxygen reserves in the blood and reducing oxygen consumption by the heart itself.

It is hypothesized that exercise (i.e. increased physical activity) modulates the dive response and increases heart rate during a dive. This hypothesis is especially important for the study of blue whales, since due to the special method of feeding (a sudden lunge to swallow water), the metabolic rate, in theory, should exceed the basic values ​​​​(resting state) by 50 times. It is assumed that such lunges accelerate oxygen depletion, therefore reducing the duration of the dive.

The increased heart rate and increased transfer of oxygen from the blood to the muscles during a lunge may play an important role due to the metabolic costs of such physical activity. In addition, it is worth considering the low concentration myoglobin*(Mb) in blue whales (5-10 times lower than in other marine mammals: 0.8 g Mb per 100 g-1 muscle in blue whales and 1.8-10 g Mb in other marine mammals.

Myoglobin*- oxygen-binding protein of skeletal muscles and cardiac muscles.

As a conclusion, physical activity, diving depth and volitional control change heart rate during diving through the autonomic nervous system.

An additional factor in reducing heart rate may be compression/expansion of the lungs during a dive/ascent.

Thus, heart rate during a dive and while on the surface is directly related to arterial hemodynamic patterns.

Fin whale

A previous study of the biomechanical properties and dimensions of the aortic walls in fin whales ( Balaenoptera physalus) showed that during diving at a heart rate ≤10 beats/min, the aortic arch implements a reservoir effect ( Windkessel effect), which maintains blood flow for long periods diastolic periods* between heartbeats and reduces pulsation of blood flow into the stiff distal aorta.

Diastole*(diastolic period) - the period of relaxation of the heart between contractions.

All the above-described hypotheses, theories and conclusions must have material evidence, that is, be confirmed or refuted in practice. But to do this, you need to conduct an electrocardiogram on a freely moving blue whale. Simple methods will not work here, so scientists have created their own device for electrocardiography.

A video in which the researchers briefly talk about their work.

The whale's ECG was recorded using a custom-made ECG recorder built into a special capsule with 4 suction cups. Surface ECG electrodes were built into two of the suction cups. The researchers took a boat to Monterey Bay (Pacific Ocean, near California). When scientists finally met a blue whale that had surfaced, they attached an ECG recorder to its body (next to its left fin). According to previously collected data, this whale is a male at the age of 15 years. It is important to note that this device is non-invasive, that is, it does not require the introduction of any sensors or electrodes into the animal’s skin. That is, for the whale this procedure is completely painless and with minimal stress from contact with people, which is also extremely important, given that heartbeat readings are taken, which could be distorted due to stress. The result was an 8.5-hour ECG recording from which the scientists were able to build a heart rate profile (image below).

Image #1: Blue whale heart rate profile.

The ECG waveform was similar to that recorded in captive small whales using the same device. The whale's foraging behavior was quite normal for its species: diving for 16.5 minutes to a depth of 184 m and surface intervals of 1 to 4 minutes.

The heart rate profile, consistent with the cardiovascular response to the dive, showed that heart rates between 4 and 8 beats per minute predominated during the lower phase of foraging dives, regardless of dive duration or maximum depth. Dive heart rate (calculated over the entire dive duration) and minimum instantaneous dive heart rate decreased with dive duration, whereas postdive maximum surface heart rate increased with dive duration. That is, the longer the whale was under water, the slower the heart beat during the dive and the faster after the ascent.

In turn, allometric equations for mammals state that a whale weighing 70,000 kg has a heart weighing 319 kg, and its stroke volume (the volume of blood ejected per beat) is about 80 l, therefore, the resting heart rate should be 15 beats/ min.

During the lower phases of the dives, the instantaneous heart rate was between 1/3 and 1/2 of the predicted resting heart rate. However, the heart rate increased during the ascent stage. At surface intervals, heart rates were approximately twice the predicted resting heart rate and ranged predominantly from 30 to 37 bpm after deep dives (>125 m depth) and from 20 to 30 bpm after shallower dives.

This observation may indicate that acceleration of heart rate is necessary to achieve the desired respiratory gas exchange and reperfusion (restoration of blood flow) of tissues between deep dives.

Shallow, short-duration night dives were associated with rest and were therefore more common in less active states. Typical heart rates observed during a 5-minute night dive (8 beats per minute) and the accompanying 2-minute surface interval (25 beats per minute) can combine to result in a heart rate of about 13 beats per minute. This figure, as we can see, is remarkably close to the estimated predictions of allometric models.

The scientists then profiled heart rate, depth, and relative lung volume from 4 separate dives to examine the potential effects of physical activity and depth on heart rate regulation.

Image #2: Heart rate, depth and relative lung volume profiles of 4 individual dives.

When eating food at great depths, the whale performs a certain lunge maneuver - it sharply opens its mouth to swallow water with plankton, and then filters out the food. It was observed that the heart rate at the moment of swallowing water is 2.5 times higher than at the moment of filtration. This directly speaks to the dependence of heart rate on physical activity.

As for the lungs, their effect on heart rate is extremely unlikely, since no significant changes in relative lung volume were observed during the dives in question.

Moreover, in the lower phases of shallow dives, a short-term increase in heart rate was associated precisely with changes in the relative volume of the lungs and could be caused by activation of the lung stretch receptor.

Summarizing the observations described above, scientists came to the conclusion that during feeding at great depths there is a short-term increase in heart rate by 2.5 times. However, the average peak heart rate during feeding lunges was still only half the predicted resting value. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the flexible aortic arches of large whales exert a reservoir effect during the slow heart rate of diving. In addition, the range of higher heart rates during the post-dive period supported the hypothesis that aortic impedance and cardiac workload are reduced during the surface interval due to destructive interference of outgoing and reflected pressure waves in the aorta.

The severe bradycardia observed by the researchers can be called an unexpected result of the study, given the colossal expenditure of energy by the whale on the lunge maneuver while swallowing water with plankton. However, the metabolic cost of this maneuver may not match heart rate or convective oxygen transport, in part due to the short duration of feeding and the possible recruitment of glycolytic, fast-twitch muscle fibers.

During a lunge, blue whales accelerate to high speeds and absorb a volume of water that can be larger than their own body. Scientists hypothesize that the high resistance and energy required for maneuver quickly depletes the body's total oxygen reserves, thereby limiting dive time. The mechanical force required to absorb large volumes of water is likely to far exceed aerobic metabolic force. That is why, during such maneuvers, the heart rate increased, but for a very short time.

For a more detailed acquaintance with the nuances of the study, I recommend taking a look at the scientists’ report.

Epilogue

One of the most important findings is that blue whales require near maximum heart rates for gas exchange and reperfusion during short surface intervals, regardless of the nature of blood and muscle oxygen depletion during dives. If we consider that larger blue whales must invest more labor over a shorter period of time to obtain food (in accordance with allometric hypotheses), then they inevitably face several physiological constraints both during the dive and during the surface interval. This means that evolutionarily the size of their body is limited, since if it were larger, the process of obtaining food would be very costly and would not be compensated by the food received. The researchers themselves believe that the heart of the blue whale is working at the limit of its capabilities.

In the future, scientists plan to expand the capabilities of their device, including adding an accelerometer to better understand the effect of different physical activities on heart rate. They also plan to use their ECG sensor on other marine life.

As this study shows, being the biggest creature with the biggest heart isn't easy. However, no matter what the size of the marine inhabitants, no matter what diet they adhere to, we need to understand that the water column, which is used by humans for fishing, extraction and transportation, remains their home. We are only guests, and therefore we must behave accordingly.

Friday off-top:

Rare footage of a blue whale demonstrating the capacity of its mouth.

Another giant of the seas is the sperm whale. In this video, scientists using a remotely controlled ROV Hercules filmed a curious sperm whale at a depth of 598 meters.

Thanks for reading, stay curious and have a great weekend guys! :)

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The average weight of the largest mammal in the world, the whale, is 150 tons. The sea giant has no rivals in its weight category, both in water and on land, however, on land the whale would have little chance of surviving; once it reached the surface, it would simply die under the weight of its own weight.

The average weight of the largest mammal in the world, the whale, is 150 tons.

The name whale comes from the Greek κῆτος, which means “sea monster”. Whales include all cetaceans, with the exception of dolphins and porpoises. Blue and gray giants confidently roam the oceans and seas, just like their ancestors many millions of years ago. Of the 165 suborders of whales that have ever existed on the planet, today there are 38 subspecies:

• archaeocetes (ancient whales);
• Mystacocetes (baleen whales);
• Odonocetes (toothed whales).

Baleen and toothed whales have significant differences, both in their anatomical structure and in their lifestyle. Baleen whales have a series of horny plates in their mouths instead of teeth, which are called baleen. Through these plates, the mammal filters seawater, which contains plankton (small crustaceans and algae). This biological mass is the main diet of the whale.

What’s interesting is that even if a whale did not have such “teeth”, it would not be able to swallow larger food, even by accident - the passage into the pharynx has a small diameter and is not intended for large prey.

Toothed whales are sea hunters. Their prey is octopuses, fish and some species of mammals that live in the ocean depths.

Cetaceans have their own record holders. To determine their weight, you just need a giant scale.

How much does the world's largest whale weigh?

The blue whale is a heavyweight in its class and could win a gold medal if a competition was created for the heaviest creature on the planet. The weight of the blue whale is about 200 tons, the giant’s height is about 34 meters.

The miracle fish would break all records not only in total weight, but also in the weight of internal organs. The huge and noble heart of a whale weighs about 700 kg, which is equal to the weight of 2,500 human hearts. A whale tongue can “grow” up to 4 tons. That is, if you weigh mammals, you can place 14 medium-sized cows on one scale, and on the second there will be only the tongue of one blue whale!

This is interesting!

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Due to the fact that the whale is not a predator and its diet includes crustaceans, small fish and algae, the whale has to constantly filter water through the whalebone in order to saturate its body. This labor-intensive process bears fruit - the blue whale's height and weight are impressive. Compared to the giant, his fellow predator, the killer whale, which hunts seals and other marine mammals, weighs “only” nine tons and is ten meters tall.

The blue whale is not quite correctly called. The color of the mammal is closer to gray and has a slightly bluish tint. A whale appears blue when you look at it through the water. The belly and fins are lighter in color and differ from the main color of the skin. Therefore, if we talk about blue and blue whales, we are talking about the same mammal, so the weight of a blue whale is equal to the weight of a blue whale.

The lifespan of mammals is about one hundred years. Whales “grow up” slowly; a female whale gives birth to her first offspring at ten years of age, and gestation lasts about a year. Babies appear no more often than once every two years. It is difficult to call a newborn whale a baby - its weight is about three tons. In human terms, this is the weight of a thousand newborn babies. A newborn whale will not be capricious and complain; during one feeding it drinks about a hundred liters of milk, which is why the baby is growing by leaps and bounds.

The habitat of the heavyweight can be either warm tropical waters or rather cold waters of the polar seas.

How much does a white whale weigh?

There is a theory that whales once lived on land, and moved to the water after some unfavorable living conditions arose. Certain facts support this assumption:

• whales have a special skeletal structure, different in shape from the skeleton of fish;
• Mammals do not breathe through gills, like all fish;
• Baby whales are born fully formed and feed on their mother's milk.

The name of whales depends on the color of their skin. The white whale or beluga whale is much smaller than its large counterparts, blue whales, weighing about two tons, they grow up to six meters. We can say that the weight of an adult beluga whale is equal to the weight of a newborn blue whale.

The skin color of a white whale from birth is almost blue, by one year it darkens and becomes gray, and only by the age of five the beluga whale acquires a marble-white hue.

The appearance of the white whale also has its own characteristics: the head of the mammal is quite convex, and the front fins are short.

The white whale feeds on schooling fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Lives for about forty years. The danger for him is represented by killer whales, hunter whales and polar bears; when a beluga whale is trapped among the ice, it has to surface every two minutes to get some air, it becomes their easy prey.

How much does a humpback whale weigh?

Another representative of the suborder of cetaceans, the humpback whale, got its name because of the fin on its back, which is shaped like a hump, or because when swimming, it strongly arches its back.

The largest individuals of humpback whales reach a length of 17-18 meters, but they are rarely seen. Common sizes of mammals:

• the length of male humpback whales is 13.5 - 14 meters;
• The length of female humpback whales is about 13 meters.

The average weight of the animal is about 30 tons. Humpback whales also differ in that they have a significant layer of subcutaneous fat. The fat reserve serves as a nutritional reserve during the wintering period. The coloration of mammals varies, so to identify the animal, pay attention to the color of the lower surface of the caudal fin, which the whale exposes from the water during a deep vertical dive.

Humpback whales are interesting because they can sing, and the performance can be either solo or choral.

Among mammals, this ability is found only in whales and humans. Males are endowed with vocal abilities; the performance of one composition can take from 6 to 35 minutes. The sound range of performers ranges from 40 to 5000 Hz.

Sea giants differ from other mammals not only in appearance, but also in habits. Whales can go without sleep for a hundred days; throughout their lives they constantly “listen”, since their vision and sense of smell are rather poorly developed. Marine inhabitants have their own identifier - the caudal fin; each whale has a special pattern. Mammals are capable of starving; if there is not enough food, the whale can limit itself to food for up to a hundred days. Such a diet has little effect on the weight of the animal; the weight of the whale does not decrease to critical levels due to the presence of a thick layer of fat. The average weight of an animal remains stable once the mammal reaches adulthood. Every year, the population of blue giants is rapidly decreasing, due to people who uncontrollably exterminate animals, so the future of these majestic and unusual animals is solely in the hands of people.