The ocean is a mysterious place filled with the great unknown deep within its waters. The ocean is also the biggest ecosystem in the world since it covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface. This ecosystem is home to millions of known and unknown species. Additionally, it is home to one of the largest marine organisms or the largest mammal to have ever lived. This organism is the blue whale. Blue whale is believed to be the biggest animal that has ever existed and is classified as an endangered species. Although it might seem like we could live without them, their excrement has a “multiplier effect” on phytoplankton which helps provide at least 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe. And they play a massive role in their food web since they consume an abundant amount of food daily. Therefore, for the sake of other marine organisms and for humans, we need to save the whales from going extinct.

Description

The scientific name for the blue whale is Balaenoptera musculus. Because of their dorsal fin, they get the main part of their name, Balaenoptera, which means winged whale (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassadors). The blue whale is a humongous animal. The average blue whale can weigh up to 150 tons and has a length of about 30 meters which is almost a third of a football field. The largest whale discovered was a female weighing 180 metric tons and 29.5 meters. Their hearts can weigh up to 1,500 pounds. Blue whales can be described as more than just big blue-gray mammals. As for their features, they have about 80 to 100 long grooves that go down from their throat to their chest. And for catching their food the blue whale has a whalebone with coarse bristles in its mouth. Additionally, they have large spots that appear as a paintbrush dabbed on them that are a light gray. They also have yellowish color on their underside that is formed from algae which makes them known as the sulfur-bottom whale too (Blue Whales, Britannica).

Habitat

They migrate usually during summer feeding and winter breeding grounds (Blue Whale, NOAA fisheries). From time to time blue whales can be found swimming in small groups but are more than often seen swimming alone (Blue Whales, Britannica). There are numerous negative impacts on their habitat (Blue Whales, New Jersey Endangered). Shipping boats is one of many impacts that’s affecting blue whales' habitats. There was a study conducted on blue whales where researchers put a tracker on them to find out what areas are important for them. With the study, they were able to discover that shipping lanes are overlapping blue whales' habitats (Blue Whale, International Whaling Commission). Blue whales have been getting hit by boats by not knowing how to react when seeing a huge, fast object approaching them or don't have time to react. This causes many whales to die and collision threats have been increasing. Pollution can also affect their habitat but another type of pollution that affects them too is noise pollution. This is where ship traffic is interrupting normal behaviors like migration, breeding, feeding, etc. Their survival will decrease with these changes in their behaviors (Blue whales, New Jersey Endangered). To help them adapt to living in the ocean while being a mammal, blue whales have many adaptations. Because blue whales are mammals, they don't have gills, unlike other sea creatures. Instead, they have a blowhole that allows them to breathe oxygen. When they inhale, they come to the surface and can consume enough air to fill up a minivan. Then once they exhale, they release water into the air that can reach up to 30 feet. Also, they have powerful lungs that allow them to dive down deep into the ocean. They can exchange 80-90% of oxygen while humans can only exchange 10-15%. They have also adapted to have fantastic hearing since they live in the deep ocean where it's difficult to see. Their efficient hearing also lets them communicate from long distances. By being a mammal blue whales are warm-blooded which is a challenge for them since they have to adapt to the cold ocean temperature. Because heat loss in water is 27 times greater than the same temperature on land, they have to try to avoid heat loss. To help them maintain their body temperature, blue whales use their blubber. The blubber is able to control the amount of heat that leaves its body. They have also adapted to have fantastic hearing since they live in the deep ocean where it's difficult to see. Their efficient hearing also lets them communicate from long distances. Additionally, with being a mammal living in the ocean, blue whales can't fall asleep completely or they would drown and die. To not drown and be able to sleep, they have to rest half of their brain at a time while the other half is still awake (Balaenoptera Musculus, Blue Whale Adaptation).

Diet

Blue whales are big animals and with that comes a big appetite. Blue whales mainly eat krill which are "tiny shrimp-like animals" and sometimes may even eat fish or copepods. When hunting, they open their mouths and swim toward a swarm, a large group of krill. Then with their tongue, they push the water out and are able to keep the krill in their mouth with the baleen plates (Blue Whale, NOAA Fisheries). They have about 520 to 800 baleen plates which help strain the water out of their mouth. To prevent the krill from escaping their mouth, the baleen plates have a brush-like material at the ends (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassadors). Blue whales are more commonly seen swimming alone or in pairs, and from time to time, they can be spotted in small groups. They travel this way since blue whales can eat a generous amount of food (Blue Whale, NOAA fisheries). For a normal feeding season, blue whales eat about 4 tons of krill per day (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassadors)! Although the Blue Whale is the biggest animal on earth, they do have predators. The killer whale is the only known predator to prey on the blue whale. However, most blue whales are able to escape the killer whale by out swimming it and getting to safety (Blue Whale, International Whaling Commission).

Reproduction

Unfortunately, scientists don't know much about the life history of blue whales, but they are able to make these suggestions (Blue Whale, NOAA Fisheries). At the age of 5 to 10 years old, blue whales can start producing calves. Every 2 to 4 years, they give birth to a baby (Animal Info - Blue Whale). For breeding and feeding, the female blue whale migrates from the cold waters toward the equator to warmer, tropical waters. She gives birth to one calf and has the calf in her womb for about 10 to 12 months (Blue Whale, Britannica). The calf can weigh up to 3 tons and has a length of 23 to 27 feet when born (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassadors). She nurses the calf for 6 to 8 months then they are able to wean (a young mammal able to eat food other than their mother's milk) once they reach 52 feet (Blue Whale, NOAA Fisheries). On a daily basis, the young calf drinks about 100 gallons of milk. Every day, the calf grows 1.5 inches and gains 200lbs from drinking its mother's fat-rich milk (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassador). After the baby is grown and able to survive without their mother, she will go on with her life having another baby the next 2 to 4 years after her first one. She can have about 10 or fewer babies in her lifetime (Animal Info - Blue Whale).

Issues

Before blue whales became part of the endangered list, there were about 150,000 to 200,000 roaming through the oceans. Now 1,500 to 2,500 is the estimated amount of blue whales that live within the oceans (Why Are Blue Whales Endangered). Blue whales are such huge mammals that it means that they are able to supply large amounts. They were mainly hunted for their blubber and other body parts that supply various materials. They would provide oil, food, clothing, and other materials for certain products. Since blue whales are such enormous creatures, whalers at first weren't able to hunt them. Their small paddle driven boats weren't ever big enough to carry a huge, dead blue whale (Blue Whales, Canisius Ambassadors). It wasn't until technology and boating advanced when whaling started to become more popular and easier. The blue whales population and their species were rapidly decreasing with the development of technology. Whalers would get paid a lot of money since the whales can supply a large amount. Organizations like The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling have been taking part in helping out this endangered marine mammal. They have started controlling whalers hunting blue whales when a substantial amount of their population was decreasing. They were hoping this could help regulate and recover the population. Other organizations are also monitoring whale hunting and have found alternative resources for selling products. In 1986, countries helped regulate blue whales population by signing an agreement to make whaling illegal. However, not all countries have signed this agreement, some countries still consider it legal (Why Are Blue Whales Endangered).

Preservation Plan

The blue whales play a vital role in the marine food chain to keep it balanced. As predators, they feed on tons of prey like krill and invertebrates. Since the blue whales require gigantic amounts of food, they help maintain the krill population (Blue Whale, WWF). As prey, they are hunted by sharks and killer whales. And were especially hunted by humans. Once they die, their body sinks to the bottom of the ocean and serves as food to scavenger organisms. The scavenger organisms decompose the carcasses into nutrients for other organisms. If they were to go extinct, this would also affect the scavengers that feed on their corpses, the overpopulation of krill, and the predators that feed on them (Why are Whales Important). The blue whales don’t just play a major role on the marine food chain, but also on us (Blue Whale, WWF). With their poop, they help eliminate carbon out of the atmosphere since the poop helps stimulate phytoplankton's growth (Why Should the Blue Whale Be Saved). Blue whales iron-rich poo contains key nutrients that help support the ecosystem. The nutrients found inside their poop that help are iron and nitrogen. These nutrients are very vital to phytoplankton. Since phytoplankton is able to remove carbon dioxide within our atmosphere, blue whales are considered to be carbon neutral. Being carbon neutral means that they are able to balance out the carbon dioxide that they released by removing it (Blue Whale, WWF). This creates healthier air and water for the organisms on Earth. If they were to go extinct this would affect the phytoplankton since the poop that stimulates their growth won’t be there anymore. They are also beneficial by being able to cycle nutrients. When they come up for oxygen after diving 1000 feet down into the ocean, they bring sediments back up to the surface. The sediments that they bring back up to the surface contain numerous nutrients that help with the growth of the ecosystem. Them no longer being here would affect the whole marine ecosystem and even us. Rather than just the food chain or just their ecosystem. Although it might seem like the only solution to keep them from extinction is to put them in captivity, scientists, aquariums, and organizations aren't able to. No one who wants to save the blue whales possess enough money to have them in captivity. Blue whales are already big enough would they have the requirements needed for the blue whales. Also, they never stay in one area for long, so for captivity, scientists would have to have them in a big area for them to roam. And where would they get enough krill to feed what the blue whales consume daily (Why Should the Blue Whale Be Saved)? The thing that has really helped them recover the most is when various countries signed an agreement to make whaling illegal (Why Are Blue Whales Endangered). Organizations are helping too by trying to reduce ocean noise, vessel strikes, and by responding to dead or injured whales (Blue Whale, NOAA fisheries).

Work Cited

“Animal Info - Blue Whale.” Endangered Animals, www.animalinfo.org/species/cetacean/balamusc.htm.

“Balaenoptera Musculus.” Blue Whale Adaptation, bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/olson_rile/adaptation.htm.

“Blue Whale.” Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation, www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/marine_mammals/blue_whale.htm.

“Blue Whale.” International Whaling Commission, iwc.int/blue-whale.

“Blue Whale.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/animal/blue-whale.

“Blue Whale.” WWF, www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/blue-whale#gs.sml8gc.

Fisheries, NOAA. “Blue Whale.” NOAA, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/blue-whale.

“New Jersey Endangered and Threatened Species Field Guide.” Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, www.conservewildlifenj.org/species/fieldguide/view/Balaenoptera%20musculus/.

“Why Are Blue Whales Endangered?: History and Hunting Facts.” Whale Facts, 28 Jan. 2021, www.whalefacts.org/why-are-blue-whales-endangered/.

“Why Are Whales Important? Why Should We Protect Them?” Baleines En Direct, 13 May 2020, baleindirect.org/en/.

“Why Should the Blue Whale Be Saved.” Bluewhales, liamjay.wixsite.com/bluewhales/why-should-the-blue-whale-be-saved.