The largest whale in the world.

Whales are the largest living animals. According to some experts, the largest whales are generally the largest of all living creatures that have ever inhabited our planet. The largest whale in the world belongs to the species of blue whales of the genus of minke whales. The first scientific description of this giant was made by the Scottish naturalist Robert Sibbald at the end of the 17th century, and the whale received the modern Latin name Balaenoptera musculus in 1758 with the light hand of the famous Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus.

Image life

The species of marine mammals, which received the name "blue whale" (in English - Blue Whale), consists of four subspecies:

  • southern,
  • northern,
  • dwarf,
  • Indian.

The largest of these are two subspecies, found mainly in the northern and southern circumpolar (that is, around the poles) waters. Having a well-developed filtering apparatus, consisting of a large number of horny plates, the blue whale feeds on plankton, small fish, and cephalopods. That is, those whom he can swallow whole. Tearing prey apart is not for him.

The blue whale is capable of deep diving. There are cases when he, harpooned, dived in fright to a depth of half a kilometer or even more. When rescuing from whalers, it can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour, albeit for a short time. And the average swimming speed is:

  • 2-6 kilometers per hour - when feeding;
  • 33 kilometers per hour - during migrations;
  • 37 kilometers per hour - in case of danger (can withstand such a speed for quite a long time).

Female whales give birth approximately once every two years, while bearing the fetus lasts (according to various estimates) from 10 to 12 months. Usually one baby is born, but in 100 births there is 1 case when twins appear. The "baby" weighs from two to three and a half tons, and the length is not childish at all - from 6 to 8.5 meters! A young whale is growing by leaps and bounds!

The female feeds the young with milk until 7 months of age. During this period, it grows up to 16 meters (that is, approximately twice or a little more) and already weighs about 23 tons. During the day, he receives 90 liters of milk from his mother, and during this time he gains 44 kilograms in weight. Such rapid growth is possible due to the unique qualities of whale milk: fat and protein make up at least 50 percent of its mass! By the age of one and a half, a young blue whale reaches a length of 23-24 meters and a mass of 50 tons.

Dimensions

The maximum length of a blue whale recorded in the photo is 33 meters, and the estimated weight of this giant is about 150 tons. It has no equal among the living animals. And even among the inhabitants of past eras, scientists have not yet found anyone who could compete with him. Even in the Mesozoic era, when the Earth was much warmer and living conditions were conducive to the emergence of super-large animals.

Among the marine life of those distant times, there is no one who could compete with the blue whale. But, oddly enough, at that time seismosaurs lived on land, having a length from the tip of the tail to the head of 36-40 meters. But at the same time, the body was small, they reached this length exclusively due to a relatively thin and long tail and a long neck. And the weight of this Mesozoic land monster could not be compared with the weight of the blue whale, our contemporary - "only" some 50 tons!

Population size

The uncontrolled hunting of the blue whale has led to a catastrophic population decline. If before the beginning of intensive fishing, the number of the species was estimated at 215-275 thousand heads, then by 1964 only 650 individuals remained on the planet (according to the very minimum estimate) or up to 2 thousand - according to optimists. In 1965, hunting was banned, and population recovery began. Currently, data on how the number of blue whales is growing varies greatly from one source to another.

One thing is certain: the population is slowly recovering. True, even the most optimistic zoologists do not believe that it will ever be possible to restore the population to the size it was before the start of the fishery. The habitat of the blue whale is divided into local areas, while back in the 19th century it included the entire World Ocean, with the exception of some inland seas. The total number of all subspecies at this time is about 5 thousand individuals.

The industrial significance of the species

Today, the world's largest whale is still protected by international laws. Therefore, it has no commercial value, being only an object of study. And in the past, it was killed for the sake of blubber - whale oil, which is used in various industries, and for the sake of whalebone. These horny plates were used to make furniture, brushes, and various frames.

There is currently no need to harvest blubber and whalebone. The development of the chemical industry has made it possible to replace these natural materials with artificial analogues. Whale meat has long constituted a significant part of the diet of northern peoples. But those times are a thing of the past, and even tribes that preserve their traditional way of life do without whale meat, preferring other products to it.

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