The blue whale is the largest animal in the world weighing in at 180 tonnes and an average of 30m in length. The blue whale is part of the Chordata phylum as it body possesses a notochord, an endostyle, pharyngeal slits and a post anal tail. The blue whales body is a blue-greyish colour on the top and on its underbelly it is somewhat lighter. The blue whale has a long and tapering body that is muscular when compared with other whales. Its head it a flat U-shape and has a ridge that runs from the upper lip to the blowhole. It's dorsal fin is small when compared to its body size being only ranging from 8 to 70 centimeters. The flippers are around 3-4 meters long with the top being a dark blue-gray colour and underneath a whitish colour (Web.archive.org, 2015).
Blue whales feast typically on krill however they also eat small amounts of copepods. The species of krill the whale eats varies form ocean to ocean. In the Atlantic Meganyctiphanes norvegica is the most common whereas in the Southern Hemisphere Euphausia crystallorophiasis is mainly found. An …show more content…
Females give birth to calf once every two to three years. After the gestation period (10-12 months) the mother gives birth to a 2.5 tonne calf. The calf will the proceed to drink between 370-570 liters of milk per day which equates to around 18,300 kilojoules of energy (OT, 2015). At 6 months the calf is weaned off the mothers milk, by which it as doubled in length. Sexual maturity of a blue whale is achieved when the calf reaches 5-10 years of age. In males averaged 21-22 meters and females averaged 21-23 meters in length when sexual maturity occurred (Klinowska, 1991). Scientists estimate that a blue whale can live up to 80 years, but since there are no individual records that date back that far into the whaling era, it wont be known for a few years to come. The longest study record of a single individual is 34 years and in the North
Blue whales feast typically on krill however they also eat small amounts of copepods. The species of krill the whale eats varies form ocean to ocean. In the Atlantic Meganyctiphanes norvegica is the most common whereas in the Southern Hemisphere Euphausia crystallorophiasis is mainly found. An …show more content…
Females give birth to calf once every two to three years. After the gestation period (10-12 months) the mother gives birth to a 2.5 tonne calf. The calf will the proceed to drink between 370-570 liters of milk per day which equates to around 18,300 kilojoules of energy (OT, 2015). At 6 months the calf is weaned off the mothers milk, by which it as doubled in length. Sexual maturity of a blue whale is achieved when the calf reaches 5-10 years of age. In males averaged 21-22 meters and females averaged 21-23 meters in length when sexual maturity occurred (Klinowska, 1991). Scientists estimate that a blue whale can live up to 80 years, but since there are no individual records that date back that far into the whaling era, it wont be known for a few years to come. The longest study record of a single individual is 34 years and in the North