Blue Whale
The Blue whale comes from the Balenopteridae family. The scientific name for the Blue whale is Balaenoptera Musculus. The animal is a marine mammal that can live up to 80-90 years. The Blue whale is the biggest creature in the world but feeds on the smallest marine life called plankton(krill).
The marine mammal is mostly found in cold waters. The Blue whale lives in almost every ocean in the world including Antarctica. They prefer deeper waters but when migrating they keep their heads above water.
Many animals rely on plankton (krill) as food. The Blue whale is one of the animals that rely on krill. The Blue whale catches their food mainly by diving down in the water. These mammals are herbivores/vegetarians. This means they don’t eat meat.
The Blue whale has a thick layer of blubber under its skin. It has 2 fins, 2 blow holes, 1 tail and no teeth. The tongue of a Blue whale can weigh up to the weight of an elephant. The male and female Blue whales can weigh up to 80,000kg-130,000kg. Males can grow up to 25m long. Females also grow up to26m long and a baby Blue whales grow up to 7-8m long.
The Blue whale breeds once every 3 years. The male matures at 22.5m long and the females are 23m. They start breeding at the age of 6-10. This takes place in warm waters in the tropics because of the thin layer of blubber that the baby has which means they can’t survive in the cold waters. When the baby is born the mother feeds the baby 600L of milk every day until 7 months. After they leave then they can go in colder waters.
The Blue whale can swim very fast; they can swim 30km/h by flapping their flukes in the water allowing them to move in the water. When they are moving in the water this makes them not get eaten by the Killer whale. They travel in pods so they don’t get lost or attacked by predators.
This fabulous, beautiful animal should be saved, not killed for soap, perfume, oil and scientific research. If in the future these mammals are killed they can affect the food chain by making Killer whales eat less then dyeing. These animals must be saved.