How much does a whale weigh? The largest whale in the world

The largest animal in the world in our time is the blue or blue whale.

Back in the twenties of the 20th century, in Antarctica, in the region of the South Shetland Islands, a female blue whale was caught, 33 meters long and, judging by its size, weighing more than 150 tons - this is more than the weight of 50 elephants combined.

Around the same time period, a blue whale 30 meters long entered the Panama Canal. In June 1964, the same giant was caught off the Aleutian Islands - 30 meters in length and weighing 135 tons.

After the collision...

In Barents...

According to statistics, the average size of a blue whale in the northern hemisphere is about 22.8 meters for males, 23.5 meters for females. Whales that live in the Southern Hemisphere tend to be slightly larger than their northern counterparts.

The whale's body is dark gray or blue with a bluish tint; oddly enough, the whale's skin gray with a blue tint. There is a pattern on the body in the form of huge spots. Each whale has its own special pattern on its skin, like fingerprints. From them you can identify a specific individual. If you look at a whale from above, through the water, it seems of blue color. This explains the name of the animal.

There are more spots on the back half of the body and on the abdominal part, and slightly fewer on the back and front half. The dorsal fin of the blue whale is small - about 1% of the body length and is set back. The head is wide - when viewed from above, with convex edges to the sides. The heart of a blue whale weighs more than 500 kg, the lungs can hold up to 14 m3 of air, and the diameter of the dorsal aorta reaches the diameter of a ten-liter bucket.

In summer, blue whales are found mostly in the waters of the Antarctic, North Atlantic, Bering and Chukchi Seas. IN tropical latitudes it practically never occurs.

There are very few blue whales left anywhere. They live in small isolated families, most often separately from other relatives.

In 1959, near the islands of Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard - in the southern hemisphere, a herd of dwarf blue whales - pygmies - was discovered. This herd numbered about 10,000 individuals. These whales are 3 meters shorter than common Antarctic blue whales, have a shorter tail and are lighter in color.

According to the observations of zoologists, it became clear that pygmies do not migrate to warm waters- the spotting of pygmies, which appears after visiting warm waters, is weakly expressed, which means they could have formed from North Atlantic settlers - the tail of pygmies is also short, like that of Newfoundland blue whales.

Thus, there are three subspecies of blue whales: northern, southern and pygmy.

The blue whale feeds on plankton and does not eat fish. The stomach can hold up to 2 tons of crustaceans.

These whales breed offspring every two years - mainly in winter, in warm waters. Pregnancy lasts approximately 11 months. Babies are born weighing about 2-3 tons and a body length of about 8 meters.

Female mothers nurse their young for approximately 7 months. During this time, the height doubles - 16 meters, and the weight approximately ten times - 23 tons. Already at one year, a small blue whale weighs 45-50 tons and has a body 20 meters long.

Most often, a blue whale in the process of hunting swims at a speed of 11-15 km/h, but in exceptional cases it can reach speeds of up to 33-40 km/h. But a blue whale can swim so fast for a very short time.

Often people find carcasses of dead whales washed ashore. Scientists still do not know the reasons why whales wash ashore.

In museums around the world, those interested can see the skeletons of these amazing creatures. Which, even in this form, amaze with their gigantic size. Alas, at the moment a large number of the whales were killed off, so they are still endangered. Also, these sea giants may not survive large changes in climate.

Video: Blue whale, weight,...

The weight of the whale and its size is amazing. Find out how much the world's largest whale and the smallest whale weigh.

Everyone has long known that the largest animal in the world is the blue whale, or it is also called the blue whale.

(Blue whale photo #1)

A huge mammal can accommodate up to 2 tons of food in one meal, and a blue whale is up to 34 meters long. A how many tons does a blue whale weigh?, this size? Of the baleen whales, the blue whale is the largest, and it weighs about 150 tons as an adult, the same as 2,400 people weigh. Now imagine how much its insides weigh! The tongue of this giant weighs 3 tons, and its heart is so large that even a child can fit inside it and the heart of a blue whale weighs 700 kg. Look. photo No. 1. Over a huge body blue whale This heart pumps about 10 tons of blood.

(Blue whale photo #2)

(Blue whale photo #3)

How much does a Gangetic dolphin weigh? – 90 kg

How much does it weigh Guinea pig? – 120 kg

How much does the Beaked Whale weigh? - 1-1.5 tons

How much does the Maui Dolphin weigh? - 40 kg

How much does Belukha weigh? - 2 tons

How much does an Amazonian dolphin weigh? – 10-205 kg

How much does Narwhal weigh? - 1.5 tons

Weight of whales with baleen.

How much does the Northern Right Whale weigh? – 40-70 tons

How much does a bowhead whale weigh? - 75-100 tons

How much does Stripe Bride weigh? - 16-25 tons

How much does Keith Sevile weigh? - 30 tons

How much does the Southern Whale weigh? – 80 tons

How much does a gray whale weigh? - 15-35 tons

How much does the Minke Whale weigh? – 5 tons

How much does Keith Finwal weigh? - 40-70 tons

How much does a humpback whale weigh? - 48 tons

Watching noble animals - whales, we admire their size, weight and grace of movement in the water, involuntarily asking ourselves the question, how could faceless, unreasonable nature come up with and create such a miracle? Whales are a masterpiece of Someone, highly intelligent and omnipotent, who sculpted these beautiful sea creatures.

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The blue or blue whale, also known as the blue whale, is considered the largest living mammal on the planet. Some individuals reach a length of more than 30 meters, although such giants are relatively rare. The average size of a blue whale is about 26 meters in length, and its weight ranges from 100-120 tons.

The blue whale is the largest living animal. This mammal lives in different regions depending on the subspecies. The most numerous subspecies live in cold waters.

Where do whales live? Previously, the habitat of this mammal extended to the entire World Ocean, but due to the development of whaling, the number of these animals has greatly decreased. In some areas they have become very rare. Moreover, the most big whale in the world migrates from one region to another in search of food. In summer, these creatures move to cooler areas, and in winter they prefer warmer ones.

The habitat largely depends on the subspecies. The dwarf variety of vomit prefers warmer waters Indian Ocean, and larger subspecies settle in the cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The largest of the subspecies is considered to be the southern one, living most of the time in subantarctic waters, but occasionally found off the coast of Africa.

Nowadays, puking is rare. The reason for this was whaling, which is now prohibited. Poor ecology also had an impact on the size of the populations of this mammal.

How many of these animals are left? this moment? Several years before the ban on whaling, there were no more than 5,000 blue whales left. At the moment, the population has approximately doubled compared to 1963. The number of giant whales currently living in the World Ocean does not exceed 10,000 individuals, which is less than 10% of the number of individuals before the development of whaling.

Appearance

What were the dimensions of the largest whale officially recorded? At the moment, the largest whale is considered to be a female caught in 1926. The length of this individual was 33.5 meters. The weight of the largest blue whale was not recorded, but according to the estimates of the whalers who caught it, it was at least 200 tons. Information about larger individuals was not documented.

How much does a whale weigh? The weight usually ranges from 100 to 120 tons, but sometimes it can be more. Whales reaching gigantic size, can weigh 150-200 tons. Such individuals are not uncommon.

What do whales look like? This mammal is second in size only to several prehistoric animals, significantly surpassing all that currently exist. The body size of males is slightly smaller than that of females. The body length of the female vomit is on average about 2 m longer than the male. In addition, the body weight of females is greater.

Since the blue whale is a large animal, it internal organs also reach gigantic sizes. How much does a blue whale's heart weigh? It is difficult to give a definite answer to this question. In many ways, the mass of this organ depends on the subspecies. How much does a puking heart weigh? From 500 kg to 1 ton. In one beat, a whale’s heart can pump more than 200 liters of blood.

The tongue of a vomit weighs from 3 to 4 tons. This is the mass passenger car. Weight lower jaw This mammal's mouthful of krill is sometimes so large that the animal is unable to close its mouth on its own. In this case the most large mammal rolls over onto his back. Under the influence of gravity, the mouth closes on its own.

The size of the fat layer of these giants is also significant. Fat makes up up to 27% of a mammal's body weight. The thickness of the fat layer can reach up to 30 cm.

The lung volume of a blue whale often exceeds 3000 liters. The total blood volume is about 8 tons.

Huge babies

The blue whale is a monogamous animal. Animals form a pair, after which they do not separate under any circumstances.

The frequency of birth of cubs depends on environmental factors, as well as on the number of individuals in a particular area. On average it is about 2 years.

Pregnancy in vomits lasts about 11 months, after which the female gives birth to 1 cub; extremely rarely there can be 2 cubs. In this case, they are born at intervals of several months. Several embryos are formed, but most of them are absorbed in the womb. The weight of a newborn whale is about 2-3 tons, and its length varies from 6 to 8 meters.

The period of breastfeeding is approximately 7 months. During this time, the baby whale grows up to 16 meters in length. The mass of a blue whale at this age reaches 23 tons. A whale is considered an adult from the age of 10-15 years. At this age, individuals become capable of reproduction.

How long do whales live? The lifespan of this mammal is comparable to that of a human. Blyuval can live up to 80 years. The maximum documented lifespan of a blue whale is 110 years, but such figures are rare. Thus, the blue whale is an animal that can be considered a long-liver. Due to whaling, the life expectancy of the vomit was significantly reduced. How many years do these creatures live on average at the moment? The average lifespan of huge mammals is approximately 45 years.

Food vomit

Being the largest animal currently existing, the puking is forced to eat a huge amount of food per day. What does a whale eat? The main diet of this mammal is krill. Krill is the smallest crustaceans, plankton. Fish and crustaceans are eaten less frequently large sizes. Eating these living creatures is an accident. The giant swallows passing fish along with krill. The speed of movement is about 4-6 km/h.

Due to its size, the blue whale is forced to eat large amounts of food. It eats up to 8 tons of krill per day.

How does a blue whale feed? The animal swims with its mouth open, which catches krill. After this, the mouth closes. The water is expressed using whalebone. The plankton remains in the mouth. When the largest creature in the world has drained all its water, it swallows its prey.

Cubs that feed on mother's milk consume about 90 liters per day. They gain up to 44 kg of weight per day.

The blue whale is considered safe for humans, however, when being close to these animals, you should not forget about safety rules, as they sometimes capsize boats.

Whale songs

The main reason why the blue whale uses sound signals, is communication with relatives. The sounds this giant makes belong to the infrasonic spectrum. Vomits are able to communicate in this way from distances of up to 33 km.

Another reason why these animals use sound signals is the need to navigate the area. Visibility in water is lower than in the air, so animals living in the sea, in addition to vision, use other methods of determining their location relative to other objects, in particular echolocation. The sound made by the whale is reflected when it hits an obstacle and comes back. Thus, the vomit determines the distance of obstacles. This is how whales look for krill, their main food.

For now great harm giant mammals are harmed by motorboats and other artificial sources of sound underwater. They make it difficult to navigate in space. In addition, the largest whale can be injured by the boat. Many of the beached animals were found to have similar injuries, as well as ruptured organs and internal bleeding.

Mysteries of nature

Scientists still haven't figured out why marine mammals periodically washed ashore. There are many assumptions regarding this mystery, but none of them can be considered reliable. Among the most popular versions are the theories of echolocation failures, diseases, reactions to pollution environment. Whichever assumption turns out to be correct, it will be difficult to prevent beaching due to the size of the animal. Over the course of a year, several dozen vomits are thrown onto land.

A whale that washes ashore usually dies. The mass of these huge animals is too great for survival on earth. Under the influence of gravity, the giant's body destroys itself.

Another reason for the death of a beached whale may be dehydration. In addition, whales can suffocate if, at high tide, the water cuts off the whale's ability to breathe.

Beaching among cetaceans is often widespread. Several individuals are released at once. It is extremely rare to save beached whales, since this work is very labor-intensive, and sea giants are not able to stay on the surface for a long time.

Existing whales are divided into 2 suborders: baleen (toothless) and toothed.

There are 10 species of baleen whales.

1. 1. An adult bowhead whale weighs on average from 75 to 100 tons, sometimes reaching 150 tons.
2. 2. The southern whale weighs up to 80 tons. The weight of a newborn cub is 1000-1500 kg.
3. 3. The pygmy whale is the smallest and weighs 3000-3500 kg.
4. 4. The gray whale weighs 15-35 tons.
5. 5. A humpback whale weighs on average 30 tons, the maximum weight can reach 48 tons.
6. 6. Blue whale is the biggest from baleen whales, and maybe to weight much more than 150 tons. The tongue of a blue whale weighs about 4 tons.
7. 7. Fin whale weighs on average 40-70 tons. The weight of a newborn cub reaches 1800 kg.
8. 8. Sei whale weighs about 30 tons.
9. 9. Minke whale weighs on average 4-5 tons, the maximum weight can reach 14 tons.
10. 10. Bryde's minke weighs from 16 to 25 tons.

Toothed whales are divided into 10 families.

1. 1. The Gangetic dolphin weighs 70-90 kg.
2. 2. Dolphins number about 40 species and weigh from 40 kg (Maui Dolphin) to 10 tons (killer whale). Common dolphin weighs 60-75 kg.
3. 3. There are 2 types of narwhals: the narwhal weighs 1.5 tons, and the beluga whale weighs 2 tons.
4. 4. Amazonian dolphin (inia) weighs 98-205 kg.
5. 5. A sperm whale weighs about 50 tons.
6. 6. Dwarf sperm whales weigh no more than 400 kg.
7. 7. Beaked whales weigh between 1000 and 1500 kg.
8. 8. The La Plane dolphin weighs 20-60 kg.
9. 9. Porpoises weigh about 120 kg.
10. 10. A river dolphin weighs about 160 kg.