The average weight of the largest mammal in the world, the whale, is 150 tons. The sea giant has no rivals in its weight category, both in water and on land, however, on land, the whale would have little chance of surviving, having got to the surface, it will simply die under the weight of its own weight.

The average weight of the largest mammal in the world, the whale, is 150 tons.

The name whale comes from the Greek κῆτος, which means "sea monster". Whales include all cetaceans, with the exception of dolphins and porpoises. Blue and gray giants confidently surf the oceans and seas, just like their ancestors many millions of years ago. Of the 165 suborders of whales that have ever existed on the planet, today there are 38 subspecies:

• archeocetes (ancient whales);
• mystacocetes (baleen whales);
• odonocetes (toothed whales).

Baleen and toothed whales have significant differences, both in anatomical structure and in lifestyle. In baleen whales, instead of teeth, in the oral cavity there is a series of horny plates, which are called whalebone. Through these plates the mammal filters sea ​​water, which contains plankton (small crustaceans and algae). This biological mass is the main diet of the whale.

Interestingly, even if the whale did not have such "teeth", it would not be able to swallow larger food, even by accident - the passage into the throat has a small diameter and is not intended for large prey.

Toothed whales are sea hunters. Their prey are octopuses, fish and some species of mammals that live in the ocean depths.

Among cetaceans there are champions. To establish their weight, you just need a giant scale.

How much does the world's largest whale weigh?

The blue whale is the heaviest in its class and could win a gold medal if a competition for the heaviest creature on the planet was invented. The weight of the blue whale is about 200 tons, the growth of the giant is about 34 meters.

The miracle fish would break all records not only in the total weight, but also in the weight of the internal organs. The huge and noble heart of a whale weighs about 700 kg, which is equal to the weight of 2500 human hearts. Whale tongue can "grow" up to 4 tons. That is, if we weigh mammals, then 14 medium cows can be placed on one scale, and only the tongue of one blue whale will be on the second!

It is interesting!

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Due to the fact that the whale is not a predator and its diet includes crustaceans, small fish and algae, the whale has to constantly filter water through the whalebone in order to saturate its body. This laborious process is bearing fruit - the height and weight of the blue whale are impressive. Against the background of the giant, his fellow predator, killer whale, which hunts seals and others marine mammals, weighs "only" nine tons, with a ten-meter growth.

Blue, the whale is called not quite correctly. The color of the mammal is closer to gray and has a slightly bluish tint. Blue, the whale seems when you look at it through the water column. The belly and fins have a lighter color and differ from the main color of the skin. Therefore, when talking about blue whales and blue whales, we are talking about the same mammal, so the weight of a blue whale is equal to the weight of a blue whale.

The life span of mammals is about a hundred years. Whales “grow up” slowly, the female whale brings the first offspring at the age of ten, the gestation of the cub lasts about a year. Babies appear no more than once every two years. It is difficult to call a newborn whale a baby - its weight is about three tons. In human terms, this is the weight of a thousand newborn babies. A newborn kitten will not be capricious and complain, for one feeding he drinks about a hundred liters of milk, and therefore the baby grows by leaps and bounds.

The habitat of a heavyweight can be both warm tropical waters and rather cold waters of the polar seas.

How much does a white whale weigh?

There is a theory that whales once lived on land, and moved to the water after the appearance of some unfavorable conditions for life. Certain facts serve as arguments in favor of such an assumption:

• whales have a special skeletal structure, different in shape from the skeleton of fish;
• mammals do not breathe with gills, like all fish;
• baby whales are born fully formed and feed on mother's milk.

The name of whales depends on the color of their skin. The white whale or beluga whale is much smaller than its large counterparts, blue whales, its weight is about two tons, they grow up to six meters. We can say that the weight of an adult beluga whale is equal to the weight of a newborn blue whale.

The color of the skin of a white whale from birth is almost blue, by one year it darkens and turns gray, and only by the age of five does the beluga whale acquire a marble-white hue.

The appearance of a white whale also has its own characteristics: the head of a mammal is quite convex, and the front fins are short.

The white whale feeds on schooling fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Lives for about forty years. Killer whales, hunter whales and polar bears pose a danger to him, when the beluga whale is squeezed among the ice, she has to surface every two minutes to get some air, she becomes their easy prey.

How much does a humpback whale weigh?

Another representative of the cetacean suborder, the humpback whale, got its name because of the fin on its back, which resembles a hump in shape, or because it arches its back when swimming.

The largest individuals of humpback whales reach a length of 17-18 meters, but they are not common. The usual sizes of mammals:

• the length of male humpback whales is 13.5 - 14 meters;
• the length of the female humpback whale is about 13 meters.

The average weight of an animal is about 30 tons. Humpback whales also differ in that they have a significant layer of subcutaneous fat. The fat reserve serves as a nutritional reserve during the wintering period. The coloration of mammals is different, therefore, to identify the animal, attention is paid to the color of the lower surface of the caudal fin, which the whale puts out of the water during deep vertical diving.

Humpback whales are interesting because they can sing, and the performance can be both solo and choral.

This ability of mammals is inherent only in whales and humans. Males are endowed with vocal abilities, the performance of one composition can take from 6 to 35 minutes. The sound range of performers ranges from 40 to 5000 Hz.

Sea giants differ from other mammals not only appearance but also habits. Whales can go without sleep for a hundred days, throughout their lives they constantly “listen”, since their eyesight and sense of smell are rather poorly developed. Marine life has its own identifier - the tail fin, each whale has a special pattern. Mammals are able to starve, if there is not enough food, then the whale can limit itself to food for up to a hundred days. Such a diet has little effect on the weight of the animal, the weight of the whale does not decrease to critical levels due to the presence of a thick fat layer. The average weight of an animal remains stable as the mammal reaches adulthood. Every year, the population of blue giants is rapidly declining, the fault is a person who uncontrollably exterminates animals, so the future of these majestic and unusual animals is solely in the hands of people.

The power and impressive size of whales stun people and make them tremble before the power of nature. It is almost impossible to believe that such large and strong creatures live next to us. Those who were lucky enough to see the largest blue whale in the world will remember this meeting for the rest of their lives. Such giants are the pride of our planet. Even looking at you from a photo, these huge mammals stun everyone. They are priceless and unique in their kind, and everyone should know about them.

Blue whale sizes

George Melville wrote in his cult novel Moby Dick: no matter how unreasonably animals behave, man immeasurably surpasses all with his madness. The same situation has developed with the largest whale on the planet. People mercilessly exterminate it and, perhaps, soon this amazing species of animals will disappear from the face of the Earth. Whalers are attracted primarily by the size of this giant and the reserves of its meat, as well as fat.

To more clearly imagine the dimensions of the blue whale, we will take as a basis the description of the largest specimens caught in South Georgia and near the South Shetland Islands:

• Total weight: 170-190 tons.
• Length: 30-34 meters.
• Language - 3-4 tons.
• Liver - 1 ton.
• Heart - 700 kg.
• Lung volume - 3000-5000 l.
• The size (area) of the pasture is 24 sq.m.
• Throat diameter - 10 cm.
• Blood - 8-10 thousand liters.

The huge inhabitants of the oceans have shocked scientists more than once. Long ago, in 1870, off the coast North America caught the jellyfish Tsyanei. Its length reached the size of a 9-storey building, that is, 35 meters!

Naturally, the data presented above refers only to the largest blue whales in the world that mankind has seen. Scientists believe that earlier and even now especially large individuals live somewhere. At the moment, the average blue whale weighs 120-150 tons, and its length does not exceed 23-25 ​​m. By the way, females are always larger than males by a ton or two. Note that the diameter of the throat of this animal is very small, therefore, not a single whale of this species will be able to swallow anything larger than a soccer ball.

Interesting! One of the dedicated researchers of blue whales has aptly described the sensations that appear when meeting with them. He said that the feeling is similar to that which people experience when they are on a railway platform, when a huge train passes by, and each of those present is afraid that he will be swept away by a gust of wind under heavy wheels.

baby blue whales

We are born very tiny. Basically, the weight of a human baby is 2-4 kg. Now let's compare it with a baby blue whale. The weight of the largest baby is 3 tons, and the length is 5-6 m! Unimaginable!

Moms bear future giants for exactly 1 year, feed for 7 months, and they are able to live up to 100 years. These animals breed only once in 2 years. The moment when a female can become pregnant for the first time comes after 10 years. Unfortunately, the soft meat of young whales is too valuable for whalers. Most individuals do not survive to sexual maturity.

It is known that in Japan the fishery is so developed and active that they have practically no longer the longest whales in the world. Statistics show that before the start of hunting for these mammals, there were about 330 thousand of them on the planet as a whole. Moreover, the habitat is not limited to any one zone. At the moment, there are just over 5,000 blue whales left on the planet, or just over 8,000 according to other sources.

Types of blue whales, their capabilities and behavior

Within their species, these beauties are divided into completely different 3-4 subspecies:

1. Northern(North Atlantic, northern part of the vast Pacific Ocean).
2. Southern(southern waters of the ocean).
3. Dwarf(Indian and South Atlantic).
4. Indian(Indian Ocean). This subspecies is not always distinguished in classifications.

Each representative of these huge animals has impressive features:

• Speed: 50 km / h - maximum, 37 km / h - normal, 5 km / h - when feeding, 2-6 km / h - grazing vomit (BlueWale).
• Power: 500 l. With.
• Diving depth: 100 m - normal, 500 m - in pursuit.
• Breath: 1-4 rubles / min. - usually adults, 5-10 rubles / min. - young, 3-6 rubles / min. - when pursued by whalers.
• Heartbeat: 5-10bpm, 20bpm - while chasing.
• Voice power: 188 dB - maximum, 20 dB - for communication with other individuals. (Audibility at a distance of 1600 km).
• Nutrition: able to eat 3600 kg of krill.
• Record time spent under water: 36 minutes, but according to the whalers, the maximum is 50 minutes.

The whalebone helps to feed the largest whale on the planet. This is something in the form of a brush or sieve, which weeds out excess along with water. The mustache consists of more than 790 plates, each of which weighs 90 kg.

Such animals lead a solitary life, do not gather in a herd. A maximum of blue whales can unite with 2-3 brothers, and only in the feeding place there are 50-60 heads, keeping apart.

Scientists are still arguing about the origin of these mammals. Interesting is the fact that their fins have finger brushes, and the structure of the skeletons says that they are completely different from fish.

Who threatens the world's largest whales?

Humans can be safely considered a terrible and dangerous enemy of these mammals, but there are also natural threats in the form of vicious killer whales. These predators pounce on the giant of the oceans in a flock of 30-40 individuals and tear it apart.

And in conclusion, I would like to convey a very important idea. The largest whales in the world die painfully and for a long time. We need to fight for their survival with all our might, otherwise we will cease to be human.

According to one scientific theory, the modern blue whale is the descendants of ancient mammals that millions of years ago lived not in water, but on land. No matter how strange this assumption may be, the reasons for its existence are quite good: one has only to look at the structural features of the skeleton, and also pay attention to the fact that these oceanic giants do not have gills.

Moreover, these mammals do not spawn, but give birth to fully formed young, which are fed with mother's milk. So, what do whales look like and how long do they live? What are their dimensions and weight? About all this in order.

The largest whale in the world: characteristics and types

It is known that this representative mammals- the largest in the world, the dimensions of which are really impressive: the length of the blue whale is 34 m, and the weight of the blue whale is about 180 tons. It belongs to mammalian vertebrates.

If we compare the rest of the representatives of this detachment with him, then their sizes will be significantly inferior:

Many people mistakenly believe that a whale is a giant fish, but this opinion is erroneous, because they have only two similar features: body structure and habitat. At the same time, there are big differences in the circulatory system, in the structure of the skeleton, and even in the skin. The biggest difference between whales and regular fish is reproduction.

About the size of the whale

It’s worth starting with the fact that all these sea giants are divided into two suborder- These are mustachioed and toothed. Baleen whales are peaceful animals that feed on mollusks and plankton, they filter them out with their special whiskers, which have plates. Such mammals are considered the largest representatives of their kind, their adult body length is more than 10 m.

Toothed whales are real predators that prey on other mammals and other fish. Their representatives are very diverse, however, they are inferior in size to their peaceful counterparts: the body length of an adult predator does not exceed 10 m. Predators include river and ocean dolphins, beaked whales and sperm whales.

Now you can consider some of the most famous representatives:

Features of the largest mammal on the planet

First, it’s worth talking about how many years the blue whale lives, because this issue is controversial among scientists. According to general data, on average, such an animal lives for about 80-90 years, but there have been cases when this representative of mammals lived up to 110 years. However, according to other scientists who have studied these giants in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the United States, these animals can live a maximum of 40 years.

One more interesting feature is that all blue whales communicate with each other using ultrasound, and movement in space occurs due to echolocation. Such mammals have very poor eyesight, taste and smell.

It is interesting that in fact the skin of this animal is not at all blue and not even blue, but ordinary gray. But if you look at them through the water column, they really seem blue. In fact, that is why they got their name.

Many are wondering if such a huge representative of mammals is dangerous for humans, because it is huge and it seems that it can swallow absolutely any prey. The answer here is unequivocal - no, such mammals are not interested in people, because they prefer completely different food. The only thing that such a giant can do harm is to accidentally turn over the ship, which is located near it, when surfacing.

These aquatic animals do not have gill openings, which means that they need atmospheric air to breathe. To do this, they rise to the surface every 10-15 minutes, and signal their appearance with a characteristic fountain of water.

The blue or blue whale is not only the largest whale and the largest mammal on earth, but also the largest animal. The length of these cetaceans can be more than 30 meters, and the weight is about 170 tons. Even their tongue weighs more than a whole African elephant! The zoological name of this marine animal is Balaenoptera musculus. Musculus is a Latin word meaning "muscular". The blue whale belongs to the suborder of baleen whales, which includes humpback whales, fin whales, sei whales and minke whales.

Previously referred to in scientific literature as Sibbald's Whale, Great Blue Whale, and Great Northern Rvoek.

✔ Blue Whale Anatomy

Females are larger than males in this species. Blue whales are longer and leaner compared to other species. Like all whales, they have a blowhole - a hole on the dorsal side of the body that helps during breathing and swallowing, has the function of pumping water out of the whale's body.

Since the blue whale is a huge animal, they have a great respiratory system. His aorta, an artery in the heart, is so large in diameter that a person can easily pass through it. Unlike fish, which use gills to breathe, these huge mammals breathe with lungs and must sometimes rise to the surface of the water to take in oxygen.

✔ What does the blue whale eat

These whales require a lot of food to satisfy their huge appetite. They feed mainly on krill, a small marine invertebrate. One blue whale consumes up to 40 million krill or 3 tons in one day. During feeding, these whales swallow water along with plankton, the latter is filtered and remains on the whiskers, and the water is removed from the blowhole. These 300 one-meter plates are located along the upper jaw.

✔ Blue whale breeding

Mating takes place between the autumn and winter seasons. The gestation period lasts up to one year, and the cub already weighs about 2.5 tons at the time of birth. He drinks about 400 liters of milk daily and grows 4 centimeters daily.

✔ Blue whale communication

Blue whales produce sounds ranging from 155 to 188 decibels, which is more than a jet plane! According to experts, these low-frequency sounds made by whales serve to communicate with other whales, are useful when searching for food and finding the right directions.

✔ Blue whale hunting

In ancient times, it was difficult for a person to hunt whales due to their massive size, but after the invention of the harpoon, whalers went fishing. Hunting took place in different parts of the world, including Norway, Iceland, Newfoundland, etc. and continued until 1960, after which it was banned by the International Whaling Commission. By this time, about 320,000 whales had been killed. It is difficult to estimate the total number of blue whales in the world today, different sources The population of blue whales is 5,000-12,000 individuals.

✔ The real state of blue whales

Today, the blue whale is declared endangered. After taking measures to preserve its numbers slowly but steadily increasing day by day, the largest increase was 7.3%.

The blue whale needs more time than other animals to reproduce. Strict measures to end whale hunting, coupled with attempts to increase their numbers, will help save this endangered species.

Recently, a program about the life of whales was shown on TV. I was so engrossed in watching that I didn’t even notice how two hours flew by. Although these marine animals are so huge, they are not at all enemies to humans. They live mainly in groups. Now I will tell you a little about how whales live and what they eat.

whale life

It turns out that whales, like dolphins and other representatives of cetaceans descended from land animals. It seems that whales have absolutely nothing to do with them, and are more like some giant fish. Of all the animals The hippopotamus is considered the closest relative of the whale..

In nature, there is no mammal whose size is larger than the size of a whale. They are warm-blooded unlike fish. The blue whale is the largest representative these inhabitants of the deep sea. Its length reaches 33 meters. You can compare it to a small ship. Distinguishes whales from fish presence of lungs. For one breath / exhalation, the air exchange in whales is 90%. Thanks to this feature, they can not rise to the surface of the water for up to 40 minutes.

Whales well developed sense of touch. Individuals communicate a lot between themselves. The echolocation apparatus helps them with this. Some species of whales in cold weather go to warm waters, where they acquire offspring.

whale diet

The basis for feeding whales is plankton. Plankton are called small crustaceans. In addition, other inhabitants of the deep sea also get into the food of whales:

• a fish;
• small marine animals;
• squids;
• cuttlefish.

There is the only species of cetacean mammals that, in addition to small fish and plankton, can eat a seal, a penguin and even a dolphin. It's about about the orca. It is not difficult to recognize her in black and white color. There are about 80 known various kinds whales. Many of them are listed in the Red Book. In almost all countries of the world, hunting for these mammals is prohibited. I hope that someday I will be lucky enough to see a whale not only on TV.