"Thar she blows!" A spray of fine mist that looks like a geyser shoots into the air with a loud blast. The killer boat draws near. The man operating the harpoon cannon adjusts the sights, and all wait for the deadly weapon to find its target in the mighty blue whale, giant of all living creatures. Not only is the blue whale the largest living animal, but it is also the largest animal that has ever lived on this earth, larger than any prehistoric dinosaur.
This whale is amazing for other reasons than its size. Although fish-like in appearance and living only in water, it would drown like any land animal if it could not come up to the surface about every half hour to breathe. The so-called spouting that indicates the presence of a whale is not a spouting of water at all but the vapor that accompanies the exhaled breath of the whale. When the warm breath hits the cold air, the water vapor in the breath condenses and may rise twenty feet in the air.
Another amazing fact is that this huge mammal, which often reaches a length of one hundred feet and a weight of one hundred and fifty tons, eats only the tiniest of fishes and the crustaceans known as krill, about one-fifteenth of an inch in length. Of course, the whale's stomach can hold more than a ton of these small creatures at a time. Old Blue Whale could be severely censured for bad eating manners, for it swims around with mouth wide open through masses of its food until its huge mouth is full. It cannot chew its food because it has no teeth, but with its tongue it pushes the water out through strips of sieve-like baleen or whalebone, thereby straining out the food. Naturally, the whale lives in the parts of the oceans where there is an abundance of whale food, particularly in Arctic and Antarctic waters.
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| This gives you an idea of the size of the blue whale because the man standing beside the giant animal is six feet tall. |
The blue whale is also amazing because it grows so fast. It is about twenty-two feet long at birth. About seven months later, it is twice as long; and finally, when it reaches about two and one-half years of age, it is about eighty feet long. A frequent visitor to the Antarctic, if he could recognize the same whale, might very well say those familiar words, "My, how you have grown!"
Although its size is an identifying feature, another characteristic of this whale is its bluish color with small gray patches. Many times masses of tiny plants hang on the underside of the whale, giving it a yellowish sulphur color. For this reason the whalers call it sulphur bottom. The whale swims by moving its tail down and up, and it uses its paddle-like flippers for steering and balancing.
The whale is hunted commercially for its valuable oil, meat, and bones. Long ago, a whaling expedition meant to the hardy whalers and their families a long, dangerous voyage with the possibility of no return. Today, with modern ships and equipment, whale-hunting is a matter of little risk. Modern whale-hunting is so efficient that the numbers of whales have decreased in all oceans, and there are now international protective agreements to help conserve whales. So, remember, the elephant may be the largest land animal and the whale shark the largest fish, but they are mere pygmies beside the amazing sea mammal‚ the mighty blue whale.
After you finishing reading about the Giant Blue Whale, watch them in action on youtube:
After you finishing reading about the Giant Blue Whale, watch them in action on youtube:
- Worlds Largest Blue Whale Ever Discovered in Sri Lanka
- 10 Biggest Ocean Creature In the World
- Whale protects diver from shark
Craft a blue whale using simple art supplies:
- Fold a paper plate into a blue whale for little kids
- Fold an easy origami whale for 3rd and 4th graders
- How to make a 3D origami Blue Whale for older students
Sing and Dance to a few crazy whale themed songs:
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