Blue Whale Facts
Below are facts about Blue Whales.
Loudness
Blue whales are also the
Loudest animals on Earth! Their call reaches levels up to 188
decibels. This low-frequency whistle can be heard for hundreds
of miles. The blue whale is louder than a jet, which reaches
only 140 decibels! Human shouting is 70 decibels; sounds over
120 decibels are painful to human ears. Don't swim too close
without earplugs!
Age and Gender Distribution
The male to female
ratio at birth and throughout most of the life cycle is about
1:1, which is not very ideal for an endangered species.
Mortality and Survival
An estimate of the
recent rate of increase of blue whale abundance in some regions
of the North Atlantic yielded a result of 5.2% per year. The
Maximum age estimates for blue whales range up to 80 - 90 years
(Wilson & Ruff 1999).
Classification
All blue whales are
baleen whales. (Suborder Mysticeti) Blues are one of 76
cetacean species, and there are three subspecies of the Blue
whale. All Blues are known in scientific circles as
Balaenoptera musculus. The translation of the blue
whale's scientific name: "A Mouse-like finned whale." Many
think the name was meant as a joke on their size, but actually,
the skeletal structure of a Blue Whale does much resemble a
mouses'.
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Kingdom
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Animalia (animals)
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Phylum
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Chordata (vertebrates)
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Class
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Mammalia (mammals)
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Order
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Cetacea (whales and
dolphins)
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Suborder
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Mysticeti (baleen
whales)
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Family
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Balaenopteridae
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Species
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musculus
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Subspecies
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B.m. intermedia (from the
southern hemisphere)
B.m. musculus (from the
northern hemisphere in the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans)
B.m. brevicauda (the pygmy
blue whale; Yochem and Leatherwood 1985).
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