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They emit a series of pulses, groans, and moans, and it’s thought that, in good conditions, blue whales can hear each other up to 1,000 miles away. Blue whales are among the loudest animals on the planet. These graceful swimmers cruise the ocean at more than five miles an hour, but accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour when they are agitated. They often spend summers feeding in polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations towards the Equator as winter arrives. Vocalization and behaviorīlue whales live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic, occasionally swimming in small groups but usually alone or in pairs. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes. Their underbellies take on a yellowish hue from the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. Coloring and appearanceīlue whales look true blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Thousands of krill are left behind-and then swallowed. Then the whale's massive tongue forces the water out through the thin, overlapping baleen plates.
I BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK BABE I KNOW A FEW FACTS SKIN
The giant animals feed by first gulping an enormous mouthful of water, expanding the pleated skin on their throat and belly to take it in. During certain times of the year, a single adult blue whale consumes about 4 tons of krill a day.īlue whales are baleen whales, which means they have fringed plates of fingernail-like material, called baleen, attached to their upper jaws. Diet of krillīlue whales reach these mind-boggling dimensions on a diet composed nearly exclusively of tiny shrimplike animals called krill. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet long and upwards of 200 tons. Current Population Trend: Increasing What is the blue whale?īlue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth.
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