EcoWorld - Whales

The Blue Whale is a streamlined whale with large notched tail flukes and slender pointed flippers. A small dorsal is located about three quarters of the way along the back. It is darkish blue-grey in color, mottled in appearance with a paler underside.

The Blue Whale is found from the equator to the polar regions in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Their migration pattern takes them from the polar waters in summer for feeding to warmer seas for winter breeding. The Blue Whale will cover thousands of kilometers every year. There is a subspecies named the Pygmy Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) which is found mainly in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

Weight: weight ranges between 100-120tonnes (110 to 132 tons), but the heaviest recorded was a female weighing 200tonnes.

Length: between 25-26.5m (82 to 87 feet) in length, with the longest recorded at 31m, females are generally larger than males.

Lifespan: about 80 years.

Habitat and Range: The Blue Whale is rarely found near coastlines with the exception being in the polar regions. The whales follow the retreating ice, and, as seen frequently in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada, can become trapped by the ice if the weather turns cold quickly.

Endangered Status: < 5,000 animals. Endangered.