The blue whale then pushes the excess water out with its tongue while the krill stays trapped in the bristles. The blue whale filter feeds works by opening its mouth while it swims towards a large swarm of krill in order to capture as many krill as possible in its mouth. Just as the name implies filter feeding involves filtering swarms or groups of krill from the water so that they can easily be consumed.įilter feeding can be though of like using sifter that removes sand or water, but prevents larger objects from passing through the small holes. In order to maintain their steady diet the blue whale is almost always found in area’s with high concentrations of krill, such as in the Arctic ocean.īecause the blue whale does not have teeth they are unable to grab their prey or chew their food so they use a method known as “ filter feeding” in order to obtain their prey. When it comes to their diet the blue whale is known to primarily consume krill, although other small ocean creatures such as copepods may also be ingested. The baleen plates have bristles attached to them that act like a fence or net which allows the blue whale to capture its prey while also allowing water to freely move in and out of its mouth. In fact the blue whales flippers only measure about 12% of the whales entire length.īecause the blue whale is a baleen whale it does not have any teeth, but instead relies on its baleen plates to capture its prey. The blue whale has a very small triangular dorsal fin as compared to the larger dorsal fin of many other whale species and the flippers which are used for steering are relatively short when compared to the rest of its body. long (average is around 70 – 80 ft.) and weigh more than 150 tons.Įven though they are massive animals their body is relatively slim and streamlined for speed and long distance travel allowing them to swim up to 25 miles per hour or more when the feel threatened (average speed is closer to 5 mph).įrom an overhead position the blue whales oval shaped body resembles that of a submarine, but with with flippers and flukes. When they dive back under the water the color of the water and the light from the sun make these marine mammals look a deeper blue than they really are.Īs stated earlier when they are fully matured the blue whale can grow to be over 100 ft. Physical Characteristics and AppearanceĪlthough the blue whale is referred to as having a deep blue color when they are at the surface of the water the blue whale actually appears to be a grayish blue. In cases where the blue whale is attacked the killer whales tend to go after a young defenseless whale rather than an adult blue whale.īecause the blue whale is able to travel through the ocean without worrying about being hunted themselves they are known as apex predators, which means they are predators that do not have any predators of their own. Other than humans that hunted blue whales during the whaling era the only known predator to the blue whale is a pack of hungry killer whale, however these attacks appear to be rare and rarely successful. In fact a blue whales calls can be heard several miles away and far below the oceans surface.ĭespite being the largest animal on earth the blue whales primary diet consists of krill, a small aquatic life form that resembles tiny shrimp.ĭue to their large size these marine mammals are rarely ever attacked. In addition to the blue whales massive size it is also one of the loudest animals in existence. long and weighing as much as 150 tons or more. The blue whale (scientifically referred to as balaenoptera musculus) is a large marine mammal that is part of the baleen whale (mysticeti) suborder and is the largest animal alive growing to lengths of up to 100 ft.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |