The Blue Whale

The Mystical Blue Whale

Mystical Whale

In the deep ocean blue, it lies

At 15 miles per hour

Through the water, it flies

The largest animal of all time

An incredible creature

Reaches 110 feet sublime

Weighs over 300 pounds

Colored slate to grayish-blue

With a slight yellow tinge

I've seen it, it’s true

 Body Smooth, slender, streamlined

Making this animal simply one-of-a-kind

When eating, taking in what seems like billions of krill

Yet, it takes 8,000 pounds for them to fill

What a mystical whale

A docile creature that causes us no harm

Yet, nowadays, why is it so hard to find?

 Orcas and sharks are only a small threat
But the biggest threat of all is humankind

Pollution, entanglement, whaling

Are the reasons the population has declined

Now there are only a few thousand wandering in the deep blue

They’re the few that survived our violent attacks

But what can we do?

We need to save these whales from being wiped out

We need to stop the hunting

About that, there's no doubt

Documents are being passed to ensure they’re secure

If we keep working together, we’ll accomplish this, I’m sure

A Mystical Whale

Introduction

The incredible blue whale is an impressive animal that, unfortunately, is on the brink of extinction. Humankind has been the main cause of the blue whale's endangerment and we have to do something about this problem. These whales cause no harm to the health of human beings and even provide positive impacts to them. 

One of the reasons why we should help out the blue whales is that they help us track our oceans’ health and help balance the oceanic ecosystem. Without these whales, it could be much more difficult for scientists to track the pollution problem in the ocean and could put other species in danger. Another reason why we should help the blue whales is that they are the largest animals to have ever lived on the planet, so we need to keep these animals alive for us to show future generations the incredible adaptations and characteristics of this animal. Although it could be a hassle to bring these animals out of endangerment, it could help improve our oceans’ overall health and preserve one of the world's most mystical animals.

Description

The blue whale is one of the most extraordinary animals in the whole world. Its incredible size and characteristics make it one of the most unique animals in the history of Earth.  The Balaenoptera musculus, also known as the blue whale, is "the largest animal to ever live on the planet.” These whales can grow up to 110 feet and weigh up to 330,000 pounds (Oceana). When born, the calves are 7-8 m long, and when nursing they "can gain up to 90 kg in body weight" every day (Dewey). Because of the size of the calves, female whales need to be larger than males since they provide milk for their calves, meaning that they “must store extra energy” (Oceana). Their gigantic size is truly incredible.

As per the name, blue whales have a "slate to grayish blue" body, but they may also have lighter spots that are usually mottled in the "back and shoulders". Their undersides may often be "covered with microorganisms," these organisms give the belly of the whale a "yellowish tinge" (Dewey). The whale’s body is "smooth, slender, streamlined, and somewhat tampered". They have a pointed snout and a tail that has "broad triangular-shaped flukes,” these flukes have a “median notch and slightly concave or straight trailing edges" (Blue Whale Aquarium). All the unique characteristics that blue whales have make it a one-of-a-kind animal.

Habitat

The ocean makes up more than 70% of our Earth so it makes sense that the world's largest animal lives in such a large area. Usually, the habitat of the blue whale is "the open ocean and edges of continental shelves," except for in polar regions where blue whales "follow retreating ice edges". They are commonly spotted in ocean waters near Long Beach, California (Blue Whale Aquarium). Most blue whales migrate, and they "spend the winter in low latitude waters," then, during spring, they move towards the poles. When summer arrives they "feed in high-latitude waters," and finally, during fall, they "head back toward the equator" (Dewey).

To adapt to their environment and their migratory behavior they have "undergone many physiological and morphological changes". Some of these changes include, "streamlined bodies for efficient movement through water", "under-skin blubber to provide warmth and buoyancy" in lower temperature water, and "blowholes that can be sealed off underwater. These blowholes allow blue whales to breathe in air without lifting their bodies all the way up from the water (Blue Whale Aquarium). These are just a few incredible ways the blue whale has adapted to its habitat over the years.

Sadly, the blue whale's habitat is "polluted by the 'deadliest predator in the sea'" which is plastic waste and it covers "every corner of the ocean". These plastics take thousands of years to disintegrate and can "wreak havoc" in our oceans (Whales And The Plastic Problems). They cause damage to our blue whales and many other marine creatures and can severely affect their population.

Diet

It's surprising that although the Blue Whale is a ginormous animal, their main source of food is one of the smallest crustaceans in the ocean. These crustaceans are small shrimps called krill, but occasionally the blue whale might feed on crabs and small fishes. Blue whales are the most selective feeders of the baleen whales and consume "only certain species of krill" (Blue Whale Aquarium). These whales feed at depths between 100 m (328 ft) and 152 m (500ft). They charge at "dense clouds or patches of krill "and expand "their throat grooves" to take in as much krill as possible. Their throats can fit 64,252 (17,000 gals) of "food and water in a single mouthful". After taking in the krill and water, the pressure will cause their "throat pleats to expand". Then they will "partially close their mouth" and "use their tongue to force the water out of the baleen sieve". This leaves the krill trapped in their mouth to be swallowed (Blue Whale Aquarium). On a single day, blue whales can eat "up to 12,000 pounds of krill" (Oceana). The amount of food that blue whales can eat is astonishing.

Because of the Blue Whale's "enormous size and mass," it doesn't have many "natural predators on earth" (The Endangered Blue Whale). Yet, some animals could still threaten blue whales, like orcas and sharks, since the "calves may be vulnerable" to predation from these animals (Dewey). Even though they have no natural predators, the population of the blue whale is decreasing and it's becoming a problem.

Issues

The declining population of the blue whales is a big issue in our world today. The estimated population range is "from 2,000 to 6,000 individuals" and experts don't know if the blue whale will be safe from extinction (Dewey). Most of the reasons that blue whales are becoming endangered are "through man-made causes." Because of this, humans have tried their best to protect these animals by prohibiting threats such as whaling. Still, they face other issues such as entanglement and vessel strikes (The Endangered Blue Whale). Unfortunately, this is not the only cause for the decrease in the population of blue whales. There are far more problems caused by human beings that put this whale species in danger.

The decline of the population of the blue whale first started in the 1970s". Then, in  "the 1800s and early 1900s," it was nearly driven to extinction due to commercial whaling (The Endangered Blue Whale). One reason why blue whales are becoming endangered is their "interactions with fishing gear and with ships". Another reason to "compound their trouble" is that their food source is being taken away for commercial reasons (Oceana) When blue whales come in contact and get "entangled in fishing gear" like " traps, pots, or gillnets," they swim off. When swimming, the gear is still attached and this results "in fatigue, compromised feeding ability, or severe injury" which damages their reproduction systems and consequently leads to death (The Endangered Blue Whale). An additional threat to blue whales is global warming. "Global warming causes glaciers" to melt which causes large amounts of fresh water to run into the ocean. This can cause "a disruption in saline levels and thermohaline circulation," further affecting "blue whales' migrations" since "they are based on the ocean temperature" (The Endangered Blue Whale). The mess we leave in our oceans and the damage we cause to our earth severely affects our whales and we have to fix it.

Preservation Plan

Blue whales provide positive impacts on humans and we should work to help them out of extinction. One of the positive impacts blue whales have on humans is that they help us fertilize ecosystems while keeping the krill population controlled and "help us fight the climate crisis". They are also a "critical indicator" of our oceans' health, and "help drive a tourism industry of whale watching" worth over $2 billion worldwide (Whale And The Plastic Problems). These impacts are clear indicators that the blue whale population is worth saving.

 Thankfully, many countries realized that blue whales were “depleting near extinction.” These countries then began to help out the blue whales and decided to ban whaling in the 1970s. In 1966 the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was passed and protected blue whales from whaling (The Endangered Blue Whale). This document placed limits on commercial whaling and has helped stop hunters from killing off all of the blue whales. More recently, a legally binding United Nations agreement has been prioritized to stop the pollution of plastics into our oceans by 2030 (Whales And The Plastic Problems) This agreement will help keep microplastics and other items out of the ocean and out of the whales' systems which could damage their health. Another way that the blue whales are being helped is by adjusting shipping lanes. NOAA announced that lanes in San Francisco Bay, Santa Barbara Channel, and Los Angeles were being adjusted along with ports in Long Beach, to prevent ship strikes to our blue whales (Blue Whale Aquarium). 

The blue whale is a fascinating animal that can have a lot of positive impacts on humankind and we should work towards helping it out of extinction. Now that more people have realized the gravity of the health and decrease of the population of blue whales we can do more about it. Helping clean up our oceans and stopping the hunting of whales could positively affect our blue whales and help them stay on our earth for future generations to see and admire.

Works Cited

“Blue Whale Aquarium.” Aquarium of The Pacific, 2023, www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/blue_whale.

“Blue Whale.” Marine Life Blue Whale, oceana.org/marine-life/blue-whale/.

Dewey, Tanya, and David L. Fox. "Balaenoptera Musculus." Animal Diversity Web, 2020, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Balaenoptera_musculus/.

“The Endangered Blue Whale.” 2seewhales, 2023, 2seewhales.com/blog/blue-whale-endangered/.

Johnson, Chris. “Whales And The Plastic Problems.” WorldWildLife, 18 Feb 2021, www.worldwildlife.org/stories/whales-and-the-plastics-problem