Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

The Blue Whale is not only the largest animal in the world today, it is the largest animal that ever lived, bigger even than the dinosaurs. This giant, weighing up to 200 tons (400,000 pounds), feeds on tiny sea creatures called krill; the largest Blue Whales may eat 12,000 pounds of krill a day! By 1960 this incredible animal had been hunted almost to extinction. There were once perhaps 200,000 Blue Whales in the world's oceans; today there may be about 5,000.

Look For : A very large whale, light bluish-gray above, with gray or grayish-white spotting. Belly sometimes yellowish, baleen plates black. Back fin extremely small, nearly triangular, and far back near tail.

Length : Body up to 100' long.

Habitat : Usually open seas; sometimes in shallow inshore waters.

Range : All North American oceans and seas: Arctic, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific.