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Blue Whales
Blue Whales are cetaceans, an order including all whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The blue whale
is the largest mammal, and possibly the largest animal, to ever inhabit the earth. It has a long, somewhat tapered and
streamlined body, and its head makes up less than one-fourth of the total body length. The top of the head, or rostrum,
is very broad, flat, and almost U-shaped and has a single ridge extending just forward of the blowholes to the tip of the
snout (nose). The blowholes are located in a large, raised "splash guard," and the blow is tall and straight and over
20 feet high. The body is smooth, and a few barnacles attach themselves to the edge of the fluke (tail) and the tips
of the flippers and dorsal fin.
The blue whale is blue-gray in color, and the underside of its flippers may be a lighter color or white,
while the underside of the fluke is dark.
Length: largest recorded was a 108-ft. female caught off Antartica, and whales in the southern hemisphere
reach lengths of 90-100 ft., and in the northern hemisphere average 75-80 ft.
Weight: Can weigh over 100 tons (100 x 2000 lbs). Females weigh more than males of the same age.
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