Blue Whales

The Blue Whaleis a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. According to Wikipedia: At up to 33 metres (110 ft) in length and 181 metric tonnes (200 short tons) or more in weight, it is believed to be the largest animal... [more]

The Blue Whaleis a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. According to Wikipedia: At up to 33 metres (110 ft) in length and 181 metric tonnes (200 short tons) or more in weight, it is believed to be the largest animal to have ever lived on Earth, though some recent, albeit controversial, dinosaur discoveries may contradict this long-held belief (see Bruhathkayosaurus).

Blue Whales were abundant in nearly all oceans around the world until the beginning of the twentieth century. For the first 40 years of the century they were hunted by whalers almost to extinction. Hunting of the species was outlawed by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 Blue Whales worldwide located in at least five groups. More recent research into the Pygmy subspecies suggest this may be an underestimate. Before whaling the largest population 239,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000) was in the Antarctic but now there remain only much smaller (around 2,000) concentrations in each of the North-East Pacific, the Antarctic, and the Indian Ocean. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic and at least two in the Southern Hemisphere.