Blue Whales

The Balaenoptera Musculus, or the blue whale, is the largest animal in the world. Blue whales have surprised scientists not only because of their size and strength, but also because of their success of winning their long battle against extinction, which began in the twentieth century. They have managed to entertain many people in different ways, which ranges from movies such as Finding Nemo, to simply searching up and listening to whale callings on Google.
The blue whale has a long and slender body which can vary in some shade of bluish grey color. Its head is flat and V-shaped. A ridge runs from the blowhole to the upper-lip. The front mouth part is made up of baleen plates with around 300 plates (each about 3.2 feet) and there are about 70-118 groves along the throat which help with sending out water from the mouth. Although the dorsal fin of a blue whale is much smaller compared to the rest of its body, it is one of the blue whale’s most important body parts. When scientist try to identify blue whales, they look at the dorsal fin. Each pod of whales has its own individual type of dorsal fin. In some cases, a whale may have a small lump in their dorsal fin. In contrast, another whale may have a very sickle shaped dorsal fin. Even though the blue whale is large and seems easy to document, scientists need even small indicators, such as the dorsal fin, which help identify specific whales.
The blue whale outweighs all animals in the world (including extinct animals such as very large dinosaurs) in weight and because of its large size. Several organs of the blue whale are the largest in the animal kingdom. The tongue a blue whale can weigh three tons, and when its mouth is fully expanded, it can hold 99 tons of food and water. Althou...

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...s was put into action, scientist have been unable to find out whether the blue whales population has grown significantly. The population of of the blue whales in the Antarctic has shown growth by 7.3% since the ban of the Soviet whaling was put into action. Unfortunately, the population remains under 1% of its original numbers. Scientists have also suggested that the population of blue whales has increased in the areas around Iceland and California, however, these increases are not statistically significant. The blue whale, or Balaenoptera Musculus, has managed to make itself known to mankind over the years through its size, strength, and persistence to stay alive, even when its chance of survival is slim. Its surpassed the largest dinosaurs in size and weight. Today, it lives peacefully in the ocean, eating krill and making numerous appearances in shows and movies.