Blue Whale | Oceana
Home / Blue Whale

Marine Life Encyclopedia

Marine Mammals

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Distribution

Worldwide in tropical to polar latitudes

ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT

Open ocean (pelagic); rarely coastal

FEEDING HABITS

Filter feeder

TAXONOMY

Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales), Family Balaenopteridae (rorquals)

Interestingly, though they are enormous, blue whales are not predatory. They filter feed for tiny krill and are totally harmless to people (other than through accidental collisions). This life history strategy is common among several large animals in the ocean, including the whale shark, the basking shark, and the other great whales. Like all whales, blue whales are mammals and give live birth to very large calves that they nurse for six or seven months. Because the female is responsible for providing milk for its babies, she must store extra energy reserves and is consequentially larger than males. All of the record blue whales (by size) are females. Males do not provide parental care and do not seem to live near the females/young for most of the year.

Blue whales have a truly global distribution and live in every ocean except the parts of the Arctic that remain covered with ice throughout most of the year, including summer. There are three distinct populations of blue whales (North Atlantic, North Pacific, and southern hemisphere), and individuals are known to undergo very long migrations between feeding grounds near the poles and calving grounds in the tropics. Their very large size may help blue whales (and other migrating animals) survive such long trips through waters that may provide relatively little food.

Unfortunately, blue whales were one of the hardest hit species by commercial whaling, and they have been slow to recover since their worldwide protection in 1966. Experts continue to view them as endangered (highly vulnerable to extinction) and estimate their numbers to be only three to ten percent of what they were before whaling. Today, a primary threat to blue whale recovery is accidental interactions with fishing gear and with ships, but their numbers are slowly increasing. To compound their trouble, however, blue whales’ preferred food source – krill – is now fished commercially. Their recovery from commercial whaling is in direct competition with commercial fishers in the Southern Ocean. As that fishery takes more and more krill, the slow increase in numbers of blue whales may stop or even be reversed.

Fun Facts About Blue Whales

1. Blue whales are the largest animals to ever live on the planet, reaching maximum lengths of 110 (33.5 m) feet and weights of 330,000 pounds (150 metric tons).

2. Blue whales can live for 80 to 90 years on average.

3. Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet capable of producing sounds that can be heard by other blue whales up to 1,000 miles away.

4. Blue whales can eat up to 12,000 pounds (5.4 metric tons) of krill in a day.

5. Blue whales swim 5 miles per hour on average but can swim more than 20 miles per hour in short bursts.1

Engage Youth with Sailors for the Sea

Oceana joined forces with Sailors for the Sea, an ocean conservation organization dedicated to educating and engaging the world’s boating community. Sailors for the Sea developed the KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) program to create the next generation of ocean stewards. Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids.

Kids Environmental Lesson Plans

References:

1 NOAA Fisheries

IUCN Red List

Get Involved

Donate Today

SUPPORT OUR WORK TO PROTECT THE OCEANS BY GIVING TODAY

With the support of more than 1 million activists like you, we have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean.

Donate Now

TAKE ACTION NOW

Support policy change for the oceans

Decision-makers need to hear from ocean lovers like you. Make your voice heard!

Sign Now

VISIT OUR ADOPTION CENTER

SYMBOLICALLY ADOPT AN ANIMAL TODAY

Visit our online store to see all the ocean animals you can symbolically adopt, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Shop Today

DOWNLOAD OCEAN ACTIVITIES

HELP KIDS DISCOVER OUR BLUE PLANET

Our free KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) empower children to learn about and protect our oceans!

Learn More

FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Save the Oceans, Feed the World

We are restoring the world’s wild fish populations to serve as a sustainable source of protein for people.

Learn More

More CAMPAIGNs

Protect Habitat

Bycatch

Plastics

View All

CONTACT

Oceana International Headquarters
1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036 USA

General Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
info@oceana.org

Donation Inquiries
+1(202)-996-7174
wavemaker@oceana.org

Press Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
press@oceana.org

OCEANA'S EFFICIENCY

BECOME A WAVEMAKER

Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A DONATION

We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

Donate Now

QUICK LINKS: