The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale parvorder, Mysticeti.
At up to 29.9 metres (98 ft) in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tonnes (190 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have ever existed.
What are the three largest whales?
The largest, biggest, heaviest whales – TOP 10
- Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) – 10th place.
- Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) – 3rd place.
- Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) – 8th place.
- Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) – 4th place.
- Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) – the heaviest and largest whale.
What are the biggest whales?
North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are big, but they’re not the biggest whales. That distinction goes to the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal on Earth. The orca’s (Orcinus orca) size of up to 31 feet (9.4 meters) makes it the largest dolphin.
What is bigger than a blue whale?
Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to exist. Bigger than dinosaurs, bigger than mastodons, a blue whale can reach up to almost 100 feet long and have been weighed at as much as 191 tons.
What are the different sizes of whales?
Count down the top largest whales species on the planet to learn more.
- 10Minke Whale (up to 35 feet or 10.5 meters)
- 9Bryde’s Whale (46 feet / 14 meters)
- 8Gray Whale (49 feet/ 15 meters)
- 7Sei Whale (52 feet / 16 meters)
- 6Humpback Whale (52 feet / 16 meters)
- 5Bowhead Whale (59 feet / 18 meters)
What is the 2nd largest whale?
Finback Whale
What is the smallest whale?
dwarf sperm whale
Who eats whale meat?
The skin and blubber, known as muktuk, taken from the bowhead, beluga, or narwhal is also valued, and is eaten raw or cooked. Mikigaq is the fermented whale meat.
Do killer whales eat other whales?
Killer whales have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales.
How many tons is a whale?
200 tons
Are blue whales bigger than dinosaurs?
Now paleontologists have announced a species proposed to be most massive dinosaur ever discovered: an enormous herbivore estimated at over 120 feet long and weighing over 70 tons—or longer than a blue whale and heavier than a dozen African elephants.
Is the blue whale bigger than the Megalodon?
Monster-size sharks in The Meg reach lengths of 20 to 25 meters (66 to 82 feet). That’s massive, although a tad smaller than the longest known blue whales. Scientists have made estimates of how big C. megalodon got, based on the size of their fossil teeth. Even the largest reached only 18 meters (about 60 feet).
Is Blue Whale bigger than argentinosaurus?
Yes, while the Argentinosaurus (Argentinosaurus huinculensis) is longer at 115 feet (compared to the blue whales ruler-stretching 89 feet), the long-necked dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous is a lightweight at just a mere 80 or so tons.
What is the most popular whale?
The world’s most famous whale?
- Migaloo. Migaloo is the real-life white whale, and was originally thought to be the animal spotted once again this week, though there is confusion as to that whale’s identity.
- The Thames whale.
- Mocha Dick.
- Anonymous blue whale.
- Old Tom.
- Keiko.
- Tilikum.
Is a sperm whale bigger than a whale shark?
The whale shark (Rhinodon typus) earns the name “whale” solely because of its size. Just as the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest living mammal*, the whale shark is the largest species of any fish, known to reach more than 40 feet in length.
Are humpback whales bigger than killer whales?
Orcas, also known as killer whales, are known to prey on other marine mammals, including dolphins and seals. But even these fearsome predators don’t stand much of a chance against a mature blue whale: The largest animal on the planet, an adult blue whale can reach up to a hundred feet long and weigh close to 200 tons.
How big is the Megalodon?
Megalodon could grow up to 60 feet (18 meters) long and had a bite more powerful than that of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The sea monsters terrorized the oceans from about 16 million to 2 million years ago.
Do blue whales still exist?
Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. The IUCN estimates that there are probably between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales worldwide today.
Why is it called a sperm whale?
Etymology. The name sperm whale is a truncation of spermaceti whale. Spermaceti, originally mistakenly identified as the whales’ semen, is the semi-liquid, waxy substance found within the whale’s head (see below).
Which shark is the biggest?
The largest is the whale shark, which has been known to get as large as 18 meters (60 feet). The smallest fits in your hand. And the great white shark is somewhere in the middle.
What is the size of a killer whale?
According to National Geographic, orcas are considered the largest species of the dolphin family. They weigh up to 6 tons (5,443 kilograms) and grow to 23 to 32 feet (7 to 9.7 meters). That is almost as long as a school bus. The largest orca ever recorded was 32 feet (9.8 m) long, according to Sea World.
What is the biggest fish?
whale shark
Do killer whales eat polar bears?
Most sharks favor much warmer conditions. Killer whales, however, have been spotted further north in recent years. “Both walruses and polar bears are powerful in the water. Both could handle most potential predators, but not killer whales,” Kovacs said.
Why are killer whales black and white?
Killer whales (orcas) have a very distinctive pattern of black and white, which serves as a form of camouflage from their prey. Like military airplanes that are colored light on the undersides and dark on top, this color pattern makes the whales less visible from both above and below.
Do killer whales eat whale tongue?
Clode says the orcas would typically eat only the tongues, leaving most of the rest of the body behind. The orcas’ attacks were not without risk. “It’s a fairly dangerous activity — a big angry whale can damage a killer whale’s fins and body . . . they can end up pretty hurt.”
Could a blue whale swallow a human?
They do sometimes swallow prey whole, so you could fit down their esophagus. Sperm whales sometimes swallow squid whole, so it could definitely manage a human. In fact, there’s a story of a sailor being swallowed by a sperm whale off the Falkland Islands in the early 1900s.
Has anyone been swallowed by a whale and survived?
James Bartley (1870–1909) is the central figure in a late nineteenth-century story according to which he was swallowed whole by a sperm whale. He was found still living days later in the stomach of the whale, which was dead from constipation.
How strong is a blue whale?
“Blue whales are the strongest and it is due to their massive size,” says Mr Logan. The blue whale measured in the study had an estimated body mass of 70,800 kg. It produced a maximum force of 60 kN. Given that blue whales can reach twice this weight, others are likely to be even more powerful.
Photo in the article by “Wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleen_whale