Unlike all the scary aquatic life based movies you’ve seen where the biggest beasts are the most destructive; in real life, the largest among all creatures that has ever walked across the face of this earth isn’t bloodthirsty. I am talking about the gigantic blue whale.

Blue whales belong to the rorqual family that also includes the fin whale, humpback whale, sei whale, minke whale, and Bryde’s whale. Like I mentioned before, the blue whale is the biggest creature ever to have lived on this planet – bigger than the biggest dinosaur you saw in Jurassic Park. And, to think that on land an animal this size would be smothered under its own weight! It’s only thanks to the buoyant properties of water that the weight of a blue whale’s body’s tissues can be supported.

Wondering what a blue whale eats? Surprisingly, they feed on a tiny species of shrimp known as krill, eating over a thousand krill at one time. Apart from Krill, they also eat small fish and plankton. On an average, a blue whale needs 8,000 lbs (3600kg) of fresh seafood per day to ensure that it is well fed and satisfied.

Even more spectacular than its size or diet is the sound made by the blue whale. The low frequency rumbling sounds that it uses to communicate with other whales were measured by scientists using a decibel meter. Some of their vocalizations were as loud as 188 decibels, which can be heard from 848km away. Even a commercial jet taking off makes a sound of no more than 120 decibels!

Blue whales reach sexual maturity between 6 to 10 years. The calves that are born are 7-8.2m long and weigh about 2,722 kg. They are nursed for 7 to 8 months, at which time they consume 100 gallons of the mother’s milk every day. As a result, they gain up to 8 pounds an hour!

For nearly a century, blue whales were hunted indiscriminately for oil. A single 90-foot blue whale could yield more than 100 barrels of oil. 1931 was probably the worst year for these mammals, since 29,000 blue whales were killed in one season. In 1966, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) gave blue whales worldwide protection and banned their hunting. However, recovery has been very slow. While pre-whaling population ran into estimates of over 350,000 blue whales, today there are less than 10,000 blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere, and only around 3-4,000 in the Northern Hemisphere.

Did you know?

• The largest whale ever measured was a female weighing 171,000 kg and measuring over 27m long.
• The longest whale measured was over 33m.
• An average blue whale can measure 100 feet long and weigh up to 150 tons.
• The heart of a blue whale is as big as a small car.
• Its tongue is so big fifty people could easily stand on it!