“Sea monster” is the Greek word κῆτος (whale), applied to all cetaceans except porpoises and dolphins. But, answering the question "how much does a whale weigh", one cannot do without dolphins. In this family, there is a monster heavier than many real whales - a 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 oral 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 floating fish - 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 whale) - 2 tons;
- pygmy 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 (!).
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 him with milk for six months, until the child doubles its height..
The largest mammals on earth are whales. The results of weighing these giant inhabitants of the world's oceans are truly impressive.
It is hard to believe that such massive animals can move in the water as quickly and gracefully as whales can do.
Interesting fact: scientists have established that whales are descended from ancient land mammals from the order of artiodactyls.
The closest living relative of the whale is the hippopotamus, they descended from a common ancestor who lived tens of millions of years ago. Then, 50 million years ago, the whales moved to the ocean, and the hippos preferred to stay closer to land and fresh water.
How much does the largest whale weigh?
The largest whale caught by humans, of which there is reliable evidence, was a female blue whale, caught in 1926 near the South Shetland Islands. The weight of the record holder was 176,792 kg; however, some researchers argue that in fact she was never weighed, and her weight was calculated approximately. The length of this individual exceeded 33 meters, which is also a record. 
According to some reports, in 1947, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the island of South Georgia, whalers caught a blue whale weighing 190 tons. There is also information about the capture of a whale weighing 181.4 tons.
What is the weight of a blue (blue) whale?
Whales are the largest mammals on the planet, and the largest of all cetaceans is the blue whale, which is also called the blue whale, or blue whale. The dimensions of these giants can reach 33 meters, and the weight can significantly exceed 150 tons. With such an impressive size, the blue whale is a rather harmless creature: although it is a predator, it feeds exclusively on plankton.
The favorite delicacy of blue whales is krill - small crustaceans, the length of which does not exceed 6 centimeters. If the whale swallows something larger, then it does it by accident, while eating plankton masses.
Females in vomits are noticeably larger than males: in the Southern Hemisphere, the average length of these animals is 24.5 meters for females and almost 24 meters for males, in the Northern Hemisphere these sizes are 1 meter less.
There is an opinion that in recent years whales have been greatly reduced as a result of hunting for them - the attention of whalers is primarily attracted to large individuals, so they die more often and leave fewer offspring than their more modest relatives. 
Some experts argue that earlier among blue whales, individuals up to 37 meters long were often found.
The maximum weight of the largest representatives of this species is quite controversial issue, since not every whale caught can be accurately weighed, and not every weighing result is officially registered, but there are reports of whales weighing up to 190 tons.
Not all experts agree with this figure, but they all agree that 150 tons are far from the limit for vomit.
How much does a whale's heart weigh?
The heart of the blue whale is the largest heart in the entire world. The weight of an adult heart is 600-700 kilograms, the normal pulse for these giant hearts is 5-10 beats per minute. In the tallest whales, the heart can weigh almost a ton. The amount of blood in large specimens exceeds 8 thousand liters.
Not only the heart of the blue whale, but also its other internal organs, differ in gigantic size. For example, the lung capacity of an adult whale is over 3,000 liters. 
Thanks to such powerful lungs, these animals are distinguished by extremely loud voices and can exchange sound signals at a distance of up to 33 km.
The blue whale or blue whale is a marine animal that is a representative of the order of cetaceans. The blue whale belongs to the baleen whales of the minke whale genus. The blue whale is the largest whale on the planet. In this article you will find a description and photo of the blue whale, 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 snout with a wide lower jaw. The blue whale has a blowhole, when exhaling from which it releases a vertical fountain of water up to 10 meters high. On the head in front of the blowhole, the blue whale has a noticeable longitudinal ridge, which is called the "breakwater".
The blue whale has a dorsal fin that is strongly shifted back. This fin is very small and shaped like a pointed triangle. The rear edge of the whale's fin is covered with scratches, which form an individual pattern for each whale. By such drawings, 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 a blue whale reaches up to 8 meters wide, it has a thick caudal stalk and a small notch. All these elements help the blue whale to 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 the folds of the skin and help the blue whale's throat stretch when it swallows a large volume of water with food. There are usually about 60-70 such stripes in a blue whale, but sometimes 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 huge and makes a strong impression. 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 is known - this 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 somewhat decreased. At the same time, the mass of the blue whale also became slightly smaller.
The length of the blue whale in males 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 as striking as its length. The weight of the 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.
Vision and sense of smell in a large blue whale are poorly developed. But his hearing and touch are well developed. The big blue whale has a huge lung capacity. The amount of blood in a large blue whale is over 8 thousand liters. The tongue of the 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 world. At the same time, 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 presence of stripes on the throat and belly. Blue whales almost do not overgrow with various crustaceans, which often settle on other whales in large numbers. The blue whale looks pretty monotonous. It has a predominantly gray skin coloration, with blue tint. Sometimes the blue whale looks more grey, and it happens that its color has more blue tones. In a blue whale, the lower jaw and head are the darkest in color, the back is lighter, the sides and belly are the lightest on the whole body.
There are gray spots on the body of the blue whale, they have a different shape and size. By these spots, one or another whale can be distinguished. Thanks to this coloring, the blue whale looks like it is made of marble. In the tail part, the number of spots increases. Blue whale pectoral fins inside have a much lighter color than the rest of the body. However, down side the tail is much darker than the rest of the body. Through the water column, this whale looks completely blue, in connection with which 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 is overgrown with microscopic algae, which form a film on its skin. The acquisition of this shade is characteristic of all baleen whales. Upon the return of the whales to more warm waters, this plaque disappears.
Inside the mouth of this giant there are whalebone plates, about a meter long, which are composed of keratin. The longest whalebone plates 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 plate of whalebone can weigh up to 90 kg. In total, the blue whale has 800 plates on the upper jaw, 400 on each side. The blue whale's whisker has a deep black color. The plates of the whalebone are in the form of an inverted triangle, the top of which is crushed into a hair-like fringe, which is rather rough and hard.
There are three subspecies of the blue whale - northern, southern and pygmy, which are slightly different from each other. Sometimes another subspecies stands out - 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 life expectancy of a blue whale is quite large and can be 90 years old, the oldest of the whales was 110 years old. Average term The life span 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. Giant size animal carcasses attracted whalers. Indeed, from one large blue whale one could get a lot of fat and meat. So by 1960, the blue whale was almost destroyed and was on the verge of complete extinction, there were no more than 5 thousand individuals left.
Now the big blue whale is still very rare - the total number of these animals is about 10 thousand individuals. The main threat to blue whales is the pollution of the seas and the disruption of their usual way of life. Also, the growth in the number of blue whales is affected by their slow natural reproduction.
The blue whale lives in the waters of many states and territories throughout our planet. Previously, the habitat of the blue whale occupied the entire 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. Life in warmer waters is preferred by pygmy whales.
The animal blue whale rises very far to the north - southern blue whales have been seen off the coast of Chile, South Africa and Namibia. AT Indian Ocean 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.
AT pacific ocean blue whales are found off the coast of Chile. But off the coast from Costa Rica to California, they are absent. At the same time, blue whales are becoming numerous in the waters of California. The blue whale lives from the coast of Oregon to the Kuril Islands and to the Aleutian Ridge, but does not go far into the Bering Sea.
In the waters around Japan and Korea, great blue whales are now absent, but have been seen before. Blue whales are extremely rare in Russian waters. Small groups and solitary animals were seen at Cape Lopatka (extreme south point the Kamchatka Peninsula).
In the northern part Atlantic Ocean blue whales are few compared to those in the southern hemisphere. In the North Atlantic, the blue whale lives off the coast of Canada, in areas between Nova Scotia and the Davis Strait.
Blue whales are found off Iceland and in the Danish Strait. Previously, the blue whale lived off the northwest coast of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and off 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 their summers in high latitudes both hemispheres, but with the onset of winter, they migrate to warmer regions of low latitudes. The winter migrations of the blue whale in the North Atlantic are poorly understood. It is still unclear why blue whales always leave Antarctica by winter and move north to warmer waters. Despite the fact that the former place still has enough food.
This probably happens because females, at the birth of their cubs, tend to take them away from cold areas. Since the blue whale cubs have a poorly developed fat layer and therefore are not sufficiently protected from the cold. After all, a developed fat layer helps to 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. Mammal blue whale is diurnal. The blue whale lives by using vocal signals to communicate with relatives. The sounds that the blue whale makes are infrasounds. They are very intense. Blue whales use infrasonic signals to communicate over long distances during migrations.
Blue whales are able to communicate using signals at a distance of up to 33 km. The voice of the blue whale is extremely loud. There are known cases of registration of a very intense voice of a blue whale at a distance of 200, 400 and even 1600 km. Also, the blue whale uses its signals to find a partner to create a family.
In general, the blue whale lives, showing the greatest tendency to loneliness than all other cetaceans. But sometimes blue whales live in small groups. In places where food is abundant, they can form conspicuous aggregations that divide into small groups. In these groups, blue whales are kept separately. But total strength such concentrations of blue whales can reach 50-60 individuals.
The blue whale can dive quite deep. The blue whale is able to dive to a depth of 500 meters for up to 50 minutes. The usual dives of a blue whale that feeds are within 100-200 meters of depth. Such dives last from 5 to 20 minutes.
A feeding whale dives rather slowly. After surfacing, the whale's breathing accelerates, while it emits a fountain. When breathing is restored, the whale dives again. The blue whale in a calm state breathes up to 4 times per minute. Young whales breathe more often than adults. After a long deep dive, the blue whale makes a series of short dives 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 dives are the first after rising from the depths and the last before diving. The whale emerges, showing the very top of the head, then the back, dorsal fin and caudal peduncle.
When a blue whale dives to a depth, it strongly tilts its head down. When the head is already deep under water, a part of its back with a fin is shown on the surface, which always goes under the water last. The whale descends lower and lower until it hides under water without showing its tail. The blue whale lives by spending 94% of its time underwater.
On 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 such a speed for a long time, since this is too much load on the body. Kit generates power up to 500 Horse power 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 massive, adult blue whales have no natural predators. But juvenile blue whales can become victims of killer whale attacks. These predators in a flock drive the whale to a depth where it weakens from a lack of oxygen. Killer whales will be able to tear and eat a weakened animal.
There are currently no direct threats to the blue whale population. But there is a danger posed to them by long nets of 5 km. In such networks, a huge number of people die. marine life, although only one case of death of blue whales 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.
Also, blue whales 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 have scars from ship collisions. This is due to the high concentration of blue whales combined with heavy shipping in these waters. Today, despite the protection of blue whales, even in the places of their greatest abundance, there are still no restrictions on navigation. There are only recommendations to slow down in these waters, which are not carried out by captains.
Now, however, the greatest threat to blue whales is posed by pollution of the seas, including oil products. Poisonous chemical substances that enter the sea accumulate in the adipose tissue of blue whales. It is especially dangerous when these substances accumulate in the body of females who are expecting the appearance of cubs.
Also, human impact affects the number of blue whales by disrupting their communications. Noise background of the sea recent times has increased too much and the voice signals of large baleen whales are often muffled. After all, the noises that ships make have the same frequency as the voices of whales.
In this connection, it becomes more difficult for whales to navigate and search 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 that operate in active mode.
The blue whale feeds on plankton, which is typical of baleen whales. The mammalian blue whale has an excellent filtering apparatus, which is formed by baleen plates.
The blue whale feeds on krill - this 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 composition of the blue whale's food. Mass accumulations of such crustaceans are called krill. Below in the photo you can see the accumulation of krill in the ocean.
Fish play a minor role in the diet of the blue whale. When ingesting masses of krill, the great blue whale may inadvertently ingest small fish, small squid and other marine animals. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on small crustaceans that are not krill.
The blue whale feeds in the same way as the rest of the minke whales. The whale slowly swims with its mouth open and draws water into it with a mass of small crustaceans. The whale's mouth is very stretched due 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 settled on the fringe of the mustache is swallowed.
The huge lower jaw, which is filled with water with 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, picking up food in its mouth, to facilitate its closing, turns over on its side or back. In this position, the mouth closes itself under the influence of gravity.
Due to their 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 about 1.5 tons of food per day.
The natural growth of the blue whale is very slow. The blue whale is the animal in which this process is the slowest among all baleen whales. Female blue whales produce offspring once every two years. This period may increase or decrease, it depends on the density of the population of blue whales. Unfortunately, it has declined in recent decades. The blue whale is a monogamous animal. Blue whales form long-lasting pairs. The male always keeps close to the female, both during pregnancy and after the appearance of the baby.
The duration of pregnancy in a female blue whale lasts about 11 months. Most often, one blue whale calf is born. A small 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 meet from December to March. Milk feeding in blue whale calves lasts about 7 months. During this time, the baby blue whale 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, the baby blue whale grows up to 20 meters in length and 45-50 tons of weight. The milk of the 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. Females by this age reach 23 meters and weigh about 90 tons. Their full sizes the length and bodily maturity of the blue whale reaches 15 years of age.
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From the order of cetaceans, related to baleen whales. The largest whale, the largest modern animal, and also probably the largest of all animals that have ever lived on Earth. Its length reaches 33 meters, and its mass can significantly exceed 150 tons.
Appearance and structure
The physique is proportional, the body is well streamlined. The head is convex laterally, but blunted in front. The breathing hole (breathing hole) is surrounded in front and on the sides by a roller, turning into a crest, which, gradually lowering, ends at the end of the snout. The eyes are small, set slightly behind and above the corner of the mouth. The length of the eye slit is 9-10 cm. The lower jaw is strongly curved to the sides; when the mouth is closed, the snout protrudes 15-30 cm forward. There are several tens of short (15 mm) hairs on the anterior part of the head and lower jaw, the number of which varies.
The miniature dorsal fin is set far back, its height is only about 30 cm and can have a variety of shapes (with a rounded end, triangular, etc.). The pectoral fins are narrow, pointed and somewhat shortened (1/7 - 1/8 of body length). The width of the caudal fin with a small notch in the middle is equal to 1/4 of the body length. The head is wide, U-shaped from above, with margins convex to the side. There are 70-114 longitudinal skin "stripes" on the belly, 80 on average. The depth of the thoracic-abdominal stripes is up to 2 cm, the width is about 5-6 cm. The longest ones reach almost to the navel.
The body of the blue whale is dark gray, with a bluish tinge, mottled with light gray spots and a marbled pattern. The head, lower jaw and chin are one-colored. There are more spots in the posterior half of the body and on the belly than in the anterior and on the back. The belly may be yellow or mustard. The mass of the heart is more than half a ton. The diameter of the aorta reaches the diameter of a small bucket, and the lungs can hold up to 14 m3 of air.
Behavior and lifestyle
In general, the blue whale tends to be more alone than all other cetaceans. The blue whale does not form herds, it is predominantly a solitary animal, although sometimes blue whales form small groups consisting of 2-3 heads. Only in places with particularly abundant food can they form larger aggregations, dividing into smaller groups. In such groups, the whales are scattered, although the total number of such accumulations of blue whales reaches 50-60 heads.
The blue whale, swimming near the surface of the water, is nowhere near as agile as some other large cetaceans. In general, its movements are slower and, according to scientists, more clumsy than other minke whales. The activity of blue whales at night is poorly studied. Most likely, he leads a diurnal lifestyle - this is evidenced, for example, by the fact that whales off the coast of California almost stop moving at night.
The blue whale dives quite deep, especially if it is very frightened or injured. Data obtained by whalers using special devices mounted on a harpoon showed that a harpooned blue whale can dive up to 500 m, and according to American data, a whale can dive even up to 540 m. Normal dives of a feeding whale rarely exceed 200 m, and more often no deeper than 100 m. Such dives last from 5 to 20 minutes. A grazing whale dives rather slowly - it takes about 8 minutes to dive to 140 m and then resurface. After surfacing, the whale's breathing quickens up to 5-12 times per minute, and each time a fountain appears. Rapid breathing continues for 2-10 minutes, after which the whale dives again. The vomit, pursued by whalers, is under water much longer than usual, up to 50 minutes.
After a long and deep dive, the blue whale makes a series of 6-15 short dives and shallow dives. For each such dive, it takes him 6-7 seconds, for a shallow dive - 15-40 seconds. During this time, the whale manages to swim 40-50 m, not deep under the surface of the water. The highest dives in the series are the first after the rise from the depth and the last (before the dive). In the first case, the whale, slightly bending the body, shows first the very top of the head with the blowhole, then the back, the dorsal fin, and finally the caudal peduncle. Going to the depths, the blue whale strongly bends the body, tilting its head down, so that the highest point is the part of the back with a fin, which are shown when the head and front of the back are already deep under water. Then the “arc” of the back becomes lower and lower, and the whale hides without showing its tail. The tail fin of a diving blue whale rarely shows - in about 15% of diving cases. Blue whale sightings off the southern coast of California have shown that they spend 94% of their time underwater.
On the short distance a blue whale can swim at speeds up to 37 km/h, and in exceptional cases even 48 km/h, but it cannot maintain such a speed for a long time, since this is too much stress on the body. At this speed, the whale develops power up to 500 horsepower. Grazing vomit moves slowly, 2-6 km / h, during migrations faster - even up to 33 km / h.
The blue whale breathes 1-4 times per minute in a calm state. Studies in the 1970s showed that the respiratory rate of blue whales (and minke whales in general) is highly dependent on the size and age of the whale. Young whales breathe much more often than adults - for example, when surfacing after a deep dive, the frequency of respiratory acts (inhale-exhale) in a blue whale 18 m long was 5-10 in 2 minutes, while in an adult 22.5-meter vomited - 7 -11 times in 12.5 minutes. Respiration rates for whales of this size that did not dive were 2-4 and 0.7-2 times per minute, respectively. An adult blue whale pursued by whalers breathed (gave a fountain) 3-6 times per minute.
Food
The largest animal on earth consumes about 1 million calories a day. This is approximately 1 ton of krill, which is the main diet of the blue whale. In general, the blue whale is a typical plankton-eater: it feeds on crustaceans in the upper water column, plunging under water for 10-15 minutes. The crustaceans that it feeds on are concentrated in special zones, which are called feeding fields. In such places, you can meet several whales at once, although they usually do not gather in groups of more than 3 individuals.
Fish, if it plays any role in the diet of the blue whale, is very insignificant. Soviet sources indicated that the blue whale does not eat fish at all, other sources more specifically indicate that they still eat fish. Most likely, ingestion of fish and other small marine animals occurs by chance, when eating masses of krill. It is also possible that the eating of small schooling fish and small squid observed in the western Pacific Ocean is caused by the absence of large accumulations of planktonic crustaceans. In addition to a small number of small fish, small non-krill crustaceans were found in the stomach of the blue whale.
The blue whale feeds in the same way as the rest of the minke whales. A grazing whale swims slowly, opening its mouth and taking in water with a mass of small crustaceans. The stripes on the throat allow the whale's mouth to stretch very much, and the movable articulation of the bones of the lower jaw also greatly contributes to this. Having scooped up water with crustaceans, the whale closes its mouth and squeezes the water back through the whalebone with its tongue. In this case, the plankton settles on the mustache fringe and is then swallowed.
The huge lower jaw, filled with water with food, has such big weight that it is sometimes difficult for a blue whale to move it to close its mouth. Measurements of a 150-ton blue whale 29 m long showed that its mouth could hold 32.6 m³ of water. Therefore, often a blue whale, having gathered food in its mouth, turns over on its side or even on its back, and then the mouth slams itself shut under the influence of gravity. Due to their huge size, the blue whale is forced to consume very a large number of feed - per day, he eats, according to various sources, from 3.6 to 6-8 tons of krill, and it is estimated that the number of individual crustaceans in this mass reaches 40 million. In general, a blue whale needs food about 3-4% per day from body weight. The aforementioned whale, with a mouth volume of 32.6 m³, could capture over 60 kg of crustaceans at a time at a normal density of krill in the ocean. A blue whale's stuffed stomach can hold up to a ton of food.
Whale songs
Leading a solitary life of whales, whales have developed their own way of communication, with which they communicate with each other over vast distances up to 1600 km. These are the famous songs of whales, the volume of which reaches 188 decibels. The meaning of these songs is not fully understood, but scientists have noticed that whales "sing" during the breeding season, so it is possible that singing is somehow connected with the family functions of animals. These songs last up to half an hour.
At first, it was believed that only males sang, but there is evidence that female blue whales also sing for their babies. The sound-reproducing system in animals is located in the front of the head and serves as a lens that captures and reproduces sounds. Since whales are practically blind and have no sense of smell, sound is the only means of communication with other individuals, and the only way contact with the outside world. Therefore, whales are constantly busy analyzing the surrounding sounds.
Oceanographers have collected and analyzed thousands of recordings of blue whale "songs" that have been documented by various instruments over the past 45 years. It turned out that slowly but steadily, by fractions of a hertz per year, the tonal frequency of sound decreases. This happens regardless of the ocean where the animals live. But, for example, in most of the surveyed populations of whales living near California, the sound frequency of songs has decreased by 31% since 1965.
Among possible causes This phenomenon, which experts consider in an article published in Endangered Species Research, is a reaction to a change in the composition of water in the ocean, as well as simply the desire of young whales to imitate the timbre of older ones, in which it decreases with age.
The most plausible and at the same time the most unfunny option is that due to the fatal decrease in the number of blue whales, they now need to send their “messages” more far, and low-frequency sounds, as you know, travel further in the ocean.
reproduction
The peak of mating in blue whales occurs in winter: in January - in the northern hemisphere and in July - in the southern hemisphere. The length of the body of newborns is from 6 to 8.8 m, more often 7-8 m, with a weight of 2-3 tons. A strong variation in the size of embryos obtained at the same time indicates that mating periods are extended for almost the entire year. An analysis of the size of embryos in Antarctic catches showed an average increase in their body by 35 cm in November, by 56 cm in December, by 72 cm in January, by 92 cm in February, and by 79 cm in March (Tomilin, 1957). Apparently, the growth rate of the embryos gradually increases, but by the end of uterine life, it slows down somewhat.
Pregnancy lasts a little less than a year (about 11 months). Usually one cub is born, cases of multiple pregnancies are rare. According to the International Whaling Statistics (ISS), among 12,106 Antarctic embryos, there were 77 cases of twins, five cases of triplets, one find with five and one with seven embryos. Of the twin embryos, as a rule, only one develops to the end, the rest die and are resorbed. During the 7-month lactation period, the cub, eating very fatty milk (34-50% fat), grows up to 16 m and weighs 23 tons, and at the age of 19 months reaches 20 m and weighs 45-50 tons; medium individuals (23.7-24 m) weigh 80-85 tons, and large ones (30 m) - 150-160 tons (Wheeler a. Mackintosh, 1929; Krogh, 1934; Ruud, 1956). Sexual maturity occurs at 4-5 years, as evidenced by 8-10 layers in the ear plugs, which determine the 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.
The average daily weight gain of sucklings, according to zootechnical calculations (Tomilin, 1946), reaches 81.3 kg with a daily consumption of 90 kg of milk. Sexual maturity occurs at 4-5 years of age, when 8-10 layers appear in the ear plugs by which age is determined (Nishiwaki, 1957); at this time, the length of southern females reaches an average of 2-3.78 m, northern - 23 m and average weight male testes - 10 kg (Ruud, 1950, 1957). Usually females breed every two years. A strong variation in the percentage of pregnant females among mature ones (from 20 to 61%: Laurie, 1937; Ottestad a. Ruud, 1936) depends on the accuracy of registration of embryos at whaling bases and on the number of individuals studied (larger deviations are possible with smaller material).
Females reach physical maturity when 11-12 scars of the corpus luteum accumulate in the ovaries; it happens at 14-15 years old, and possibly even more older age, with an average body length of 26.2 m (Laurie, 1937), 26.5 m (Brinkmann, 1948) and 26.67 m (Peters, 1939). The minimum size of physically mature Antarctic females was set at 24.7 m, and for males - 22.3 m. . Only 25 scars were found in the oldest female in the North Pacific (Omura, 1955).
population
The initial number of blue whales, before the start of their intensive fishing, was estimated at 215 thousand heads. According to other sources, it could be even more, up to 350 thousand. The first bans on blue whale fishing in the Northern Hemisphere date back to 1939; they affected only certain areas. The fishery was completely banned in 1966, but the ban on fishing, however, did not immediately affect the blue pygmy whales, which continued to be harvested as early as the 1966-1967 season.
The current population of blue whales is difficult to estimate. The reason, perhaps, is that blue whales have not been studied very actively for decades - for example, according to authoritative sources in 1984, the International Whaling Commission has practically not counted the number of these since the mid-1970s. In 1984, it was reported that no more than 1900 blue whales lived in the Northern Hemisphere, and about 10 thousand in the Southern Hemisphere, half of which were dwarf subspecies.
According to some data, there are now between 1,300 and 2,000 blue whales in the entire world ocean, but in this case, the number of these whales is even lower than 40 years ago, despite the complete absence of fishing. Other sources give more optimistic figures: 5-10 thousand vomits in the Southern Hemisphere and 3-4 thousand in the Northern Hemisphere. The question of the quantitative distribution of the world population of blue whales in individual areas is also not fully clarified.
A number of sources indicate that from 400 to 1400 blue whales live in the Southern Hemisphere, about 1480 in the North Pacific Ocean, while the number of blue whales in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is unknown. Regarding the Southern Hemisphere (more precisely, the Southern Ocean), other figures are also indicated: 1700 heads with a 95% probability that this number is between the two extreme values \u200b\u200bof 860 and 2900. At the same time, according to the International Whaling Commission, 6 herds live in the Southern Hemisphere blue whales. Whales of the southern subspecies, which became the main object of attention of whalers in the twentieth century, according to estimates in 2007, only 3% of the population of 1914 remain.
The growth of the blue whale population is slow, but in a number of places, for example, in areas near Iceland, the increase after the ban on fishing reached 5% per year. American scientists who conducted a detailed study of the population of cetaceans off the Pacific coast of the United States noted that the number of blue whales in these areas tended to increase throughout the 1980s. However, the same study concludes that there is no data on population growth in the Pacific Ocean as a whole. There are legitimate fears that the blue whale population may never recover to its original abundance.
Whales are very smart animals. Their incredible intelligence and friendly nature have made whales very popular and interesting animals for science. Scientists generally believe that the brain of whales is more similar in its capabilities to the human than the brain of any other animal.
Some features of the structure of whales are very interested in physicians. So whales do not have cerebral hemorrhages, due to the fact that in their heart there is a special shunt that connects two large arteries, which provides reliable protection against blockage of blood vessels, and as a result, from heart attacks.
The whale eye is also of interest to scientists. Firstly, because in it the size allows you to see what cannot be seen in the eye of a person or other animal. Secondly, the blue whale can dive underwater to great depths, and the structure of its eye is such that it can withstand enormous pressures. Having learned this secret, a person will help patients with glaucoma associated with impaired intraocular pressure.
