How Big Is the Biggest Whale

You might just be thinking that which is the biggest Whale; the answer to it is Blue Whale. Do you know that they are also the largest animals ever known to have lived on earth? Their tongue alone can weigh more than an elephant. It is really tough to imagine how big they are for us, and big can be elephants or dinosaurs.

To date, the largest measured blue Whale was 111 feet long. Usually, most of them are approximately 70-90 feet in length. You can imagine this by thinking about three school buses standing in a row. Also, they weigh around 200 tons or 441,000 pounds, which is massive.

Scientists say that they are so huge because they live in the ocean as 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, so they have a lot of space to swim and grow. Plus, blue whales are not dependent upon their skeleton to support their vast body; they rely on the buoyancy of the water to keep its body afloat.

Just like their entire body, their heart is enormously huge. Blue whales heart is as big as an automobile. It has been seen that its heart is 5ft long and has a weight of 400 pounds. It is so big that its heartbeat can be felt from two miles away.

Although after looking at its enormous size, it seems that blue whales might eat anything and everything. But they prefer eating tony shrimp-like animals called krill. There are a couple of times in a year when one adult whale eats 4 tons of krill in one day.

They have a different style of eating as they are baleen whales. It implies that they have fringed plates of finger-like material called baleen attached to their upper jaws. They eat by first gulping a lot of water; after that, they open their skin on the throat to take it in. After this, its tongue takes the water out through the skin. Therefore, they leave thousands of krill behind and then swallow it.

When you see the Whale underwater, you can see that it is absolutely blue, but when you see them on the surface, they appear somewhat blue-grey. They have a big flathead which is pretty long; its body is tapered that ends in broad and triangular flukes. (See Do Squirrels Make Good Pets? Can they be domesticated?)

They are giant babies on earth. Baby blue Whale stays in the womb for a year, weighs around 3 tons or 8800 pounds, and stretches up to 25 ft. They gain approximately 200 pounds in one day, which is one of the fastest amongst other animals.

These massive whales live pretty solitary lives. They do not travel in groups like other whales; they gather together for mating. You would be amazed to know that they are the loudest animals on the planet. The call of a blue whale reaches 188, whereas a jet engine registers at 140 decibels. Their language, pulses and moans can be heard up to 1000 miles. (See How Are Ponies and Horses Different?)