BLUBBER WEEK- DAY 5

BLUBBER WEEK- DAY 5

It’s the last day of Blubber Week! There will be a an ornament craft tomorrow! We’re extra excited for today’s animal, because it is BIG! And when we say big we mean bigger than elephant big! So are you ready to meet this extreme mammal? Let’s do this…

MEET THE BLUE WHALE!

   Range/Habitat: Oceans worldwide except the Mediterranean-

Arabic Gulf

    Diet: Carnivore: eats only krill

   Length/Weight: 66-98 ft/110-176 tons

   Conservation Status: endangered

Fun Facts:

• Blue Whales are the largest animal on the planet!
• They can have 50 tons of blubber.
• Blue whales have baleen. Baleen is a hair like structure in their mouths that filter out tiny krill from the water. Baleen is made of keratin (the same stuff that makes up your nails and hair).
• They can eat up to 40 million krill a day! Whew, that is a bunch of tiny little animals.
• Blue whales throats can swell to 4 times their normal size when taking in water and krill. They expel the water and swallow the krill.
• They feed mostly in the summer in cold waters and migrate to warmer waters in the winter.
• Blue whales have slender bodies with one small dorsal fin.
• Blue whales can dive to depths of 655 ft.
• The calves (babies) are up to 23ft long and 2 ½ tons when born! That’s about the weight of a car!
• Blue whales also produce the loudest sound of any animal on earth at 180 decibels. That is louder than the jet engine of an airplane. WOW! It’s so loud that it could cause damage to your eardrums!
• Blue whales produce many different sounds, calls and songs!

We could go on all day about the largest animal on our planet Earth! These special giants are endangered, but are protected now! Our oceans wouldn’t be the same without these amazing singing creatures! You can find a few really neat models in museums around the world! The one at the American Natural History Museum even tweets (@NatHistoryWhale).

Here’s a video of researchers catching the songs of blue whales from National Geographic!