Biggest Blue Whale In The World: Fascinating Facts For Kids

Blue whales hold the record of being the largest animals on planet earth to ever live.

They are believed to be bigger than the extinct species of dinosaurs. Explore amazing aspects of blue whales, which are part of the marine ecosystem.

The scientific term for a blue whale is Balaenoptera musculus. The blue whale is a subspecies of the larger species called whales which also include other subspecies such as the sperm whale, killer whale, and humpback whale. Blue whales are creatures of the ocean that share a few common features with humans.

Unlike most fish species that breathe underwater through the use of gills, blue whales have to break through the water surface of the ocean in order to breathe air. Similar to humans, blue whales are also unable to breathe underwater.

Another common feature of blue whales and humans is that they are both warm-blooded mammals. Being a mammal means that blue whales give birth to young ones directly instead of laying eggs like oviparous animals.

The offspring of blue whales are called calves. Moreover, a group of blue whales is called a pod.

However, blue whales have many unique qualities. One such quality discovered by scientists is the sound they produce.

The sound of a blue whale is said to be the loudest animal sound on the planet. The sounds produced by them are generally moans, pulses, and groans, and they use them to communicate with each other.

A healthy blue whale can hear the sound of another whale from a distance of around 1,000 mi (1,610 km) which is pretty far.

The sounds made by this animal can reach up to 180 dB - louder than the sound of a jet engine that is 140 dB.

Scientists have noted that these whales not only use sound to communicate with each other and find a mate, but they also use it to navigate the ocean territory through the technique of sonar navigation.

Moreover, the large body of a blue whale also dictates that the other parts of the aquatic animal will also be bigger than average.

If you like this article with fun facts for kids, you might also enjoy learning about the longest living dog breed and longest toenails, here at Kidadl.

Largest Blue Whale In The World

The largest blue whale in any record of the world is the Antarctic blue whale. It is the largest animal to ever exist. The scientific name given to this species of whales is Balaenoptera musculus ssp. Intermedia. As the name suggests, these blue whales are found in the Antarctic Ocean.

Like other blue whales, the Antarctic blue whale, too, has a big heart the size of an automobile and a big tongue. They are also loud animals and feed on krill. This species can eat about 8000 lb (3600 kg) of krill during the main feeding season.

The Antarctic blue whale's population has drastically declined due to commercial whaling in the southern Atlantic Ocean in 1904. Even when there were legal protections placed by the International Whaling Commission in the '60s, people still hunted the whales illegally up until 1972.

Since 1926 the number of this species has declined from 125,000 to around 3,000 individuals in 2018. This caused the Antarctic blue whale to be added to the Critically Endangered class on the IUCN's Red List.

Another amazing fact about blue whales is their color. Whales appear a true dark blue color under the water.

However, on the surface of the water, the color of these whales seems a different shade of blue-gray. There is a yellow color hue on the underbelly of the blue whale caused by the millions of microorganisms that live on the skin.

The blue whale's body has a log tapered shape with a broad and flat head and triangular flukes.

Largest Blue Whale Size Comparison

Blue whales, as we have established, are huge creatures that live in the oceans of our planet earth. No other animals, not even massive dinosaurs, can compare to the size of blue whales.

Science often uses other entities in comparison with these animals to highlight their immense girth. While their body is compared to being as big as three school buses parked together, their tongue is compared to the weight of elephants, it is also said to be so big that it can easily hold a complete team of football players.

Even their heart size is contrasted with the size of a small car.

However, even though they make these comparisons, scientists and researchers are left baffled by the sheer size of this magnificent ocean creature.

The blue whale heart is the largest heart among all animals. According to 'National Geographic', it weighs around 400 lb (181.4 kg) and is compared to a car in size.

Interestingly, when the whale goes to the bottom of the ocean in search of prey, its heart beats only twice in a minute. Another big body part of the blue whale is its tongue. Science shows that a blue whale's tongue can weigh as much as an entire elephant.

Due to its large size that is often compared to school buses and multiple elephants, a blue whale might appear quite intimidating. However, a human has nothing to fear when faced with this marine animal. Even though these whales are carnivores, their diet does not include human meat.

Biggest Blue Whale Weight

As much as blue whales are big in terms of their length, they are equally as large when it comes to how much they weigh. Do you know how much the biggest blue whale weighs?

The average weight of a typical blue whale can be between 200,000-300,000 lb (90,000-136,000 kg). A few of them also weigh more than 300,000 lb (136,000 kg). Female blue whales usually weigh more than male blue whales.

Blue whales also have the biggest babies in the world. They are said to be the size of an adult hippopotamus when they are born.

A calve of a blue whale weighs about 8,800 lb (4,000 kg) at the time of its birth. Moreover, they gain 200 lb (90 kg) per day and are considered to be creatures with one of the fastest growth rates.

The heaviest blue whale to ever be recorded was a female found in the Southern Ocean in 1947, weighing 418,878 lb (190,000 kg).

The typical diet of these whales consists of feeding on tiny sea creatures called krill, which are shrimp-like crustaceans found in all the oceans of the world. An adult blue whale can eat up to 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) of krill in a single day.

During the time of feeding, the whale opens up its mouth and takes in a large amount of water containing millions of tiny krill.

Inside the mouth, the tongue presses down to make space for the water and krill. The water is flushed out through the minute gaps between the baleen plates.

These baleen plates are thin fingernail-like parts attached to the upper jaws of the whale. There are some million of these plates, and they are thin enough to let the water out, but they trap the krill behind, which the whale then feeds on.

Size Of The Biggest Blue Whale

The size of the blue whale is huge due to two main reasons. The first one is that they live in the oceans which make up 71% of the surface of the earth. They have more than enough space to grow as big as they want.

The second reason for their enormous size is the buoyancy offered by the water body. While an animal living on the land has to depend on its skeleton to tackle the issue of gravity, aquatic animals, including blue whales, do not have to worry about the concept of gravity.

This gives them the advantage of not being restricted by the size of their skeleton and can keep growing as much as they like.

Usually, the length of blue whales is between 70-100 ft (21.3-30.5 m). The longest blue whale that was recorded was also a female one found at the South Georgia whaling station, South Atlantic, in 1909. She was 110 ft (33.5 m) long.

Did You Know...

The term whaling refers to the hunting and killing of whales by people for various body parts of the creature. Whaling along with climate change are the reasons for these organisms becoming Endangered. Climate change and the melting of polar ice are also considered to be a grave threat to blue whales.

Many conservation societies, including the World Wildlife Fund, have been taking serious measures to ensure that the populations of these Endangered animals can be increased and that their hunting and killing is banned.

Whaling was popular in the past because this aquatic animal was useful to the human population in several ways. Not only did it provide meat and oil, but the bones of this animal were also quite useful. The bones and baleen were used to make toys for children, buggy parts, and corsets.

The whalebone hoop skirt was quite popular in the past. The purpose of this skirt was to keep the material of the skirt just the way it was supposed to be as well as keep the several layers away from one's leg and improve the motion of walking.

It also provided room for air when these heavy skirts were worn in warm temperatures and in crowded places. However, the use of this item decreased as bans on whaling were implemented.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked learning fun facts about the biggest blue whale, then why not take a look at the longest tapeworm or longest river in Asia.