Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Blue Whale

“ Most whale photos you see show whales in this beautiful blue water - it's almost like space. ”

– Brian Skerry

Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Clade: Synapsida

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Infraorder: Cetacea

Family: Balaenopteridae

Genus: Balaenoptera

Species: Balaenoptera musculus

Descendant: Balaenoptera physalus

Named by: Carl Linnaeus

Year Published: 1758

Lifespan: 80–90+ years

Size: 24 and 33 meters in length; 173 tonnes (190 short tons) to 199 tonnes (220 short tons)

Type: 

Title: 

Pantheon: Terran/Gaian

Time Period: Miocene - Holocene (7.2–2023) mya

Alignment: Docile

Threat Level: ★★

Diet: Carnivorous (Filter Feeder)

Elements: Water, sound

Inflicts: Muted, waterblight, soundblight

Weaknesses: Fire, leaf, electric, light, dark, fae

Casualties: n/a

Based On: itself

Conservation Status: 

The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale as four subspecies are recognized: Balaenoptera musculus musculus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, Balaenoptera musculus intermedia in the Southern Ocean, Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda (the pygmy blue whale) in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, Balaenoptera musculus indica in the Northern Indian Ocean.

Etymology

After discovering a whale stranded in the Firth of Forth estuary in Scotland in 1692, Robert Sibbald wrote Phalainologia Nova, which contains one of the earliest descriptions of a blue whale. The term "blue whale," which was first used by Svend Foyn soon after he created the harpoon gun, was taken from the Norwegian "blåhval." It was given that name by the Norwegian scientist Georg Ossian Sars in 1874.


In his book Moby Dick, Herman Melville gave the blue whale the nickname "sulphur bottom" due to the buildup of diatoms that gave its white underbelly a yellowish tint.


The genus name, Balaenoptera, means winged whale while the species name, musculus, could mean "muscle" or a diminutive form of "mouse", possibly a pun by Carl Linnaeus when he named the species in Systema Naturae.

Physical Appearance

The largest animal to have ever existed on planet Earth is a blue whale. With lengths of up to 100 feet and weights of more than 200 tons, these magnificent marine creatures command the waters. Even just their mouths might be as heavy as an elephant. As much as an automobile, their hearts. The long, lean body of the blue whale can be a variety of colors of greyish-blue on top and a little lighter below.


The blue whale is a slender-bodied cetacean characterized by a broad U-shaped head, thin, elongated flippers, a short, sickle-shaped dorsal fin at the tail, and a massive tail stock at the base of the wide and thin flukes. The blue whale's body is about 33 cm (13 in) long. Baleen plates in the shade of 70-395 black line the upper jaw. With 60–88 channels in the throat area, the skin can expand while being fed. It features two blowholes that have a range of 9.1–12.2 meters (30–40 feet). Underwater, the grayish-blue coloring of the skin gives it a blue appearance. Individual variations can be seen in the mottling patterns close to the dorsal fin. Due to the presence of diatoms in the water, the underside might appear yellow and have lighter coloring. This gave them the term "sulphur bottom" in the past. The longest genitalia in the animal kingdom belongs to the male blue whale, which measures about 3 m (9.8 ft) length and 12 in (30 cm) wide.

Abilities

It can devour up to four tons of krill every day and can hold one ton in its stomach. They are the most obnoxious animals on the planet, even louder than a jet engine. Their calls are louder than a plane, which is just 140 dB louder.


The blue whale inhales the water from its mouth and is also capable of sucking in and expelling large quantities of water from its mouth as a powerful beam. Due to Apple of Eden's mind control during the near-death experience mode, the blue whale is also able to cause chaosblight by using specific physical strikes.

Ecology

Uncertainty surrounds the Blue Whale's migration habits, however they seem to be varied. Although most of the populations under study show signs of migratory activity, both wintering and summering habitats seem to be used to some extent all year long. While some individuals may migrate over long distances from tropical waters to high-latitude feeding grounds while possibly stopping along the way to feed in habitats with high productivity, other individuals may migrate over shorter distances.


The diet of blue whales, which is almost entirely made up of the small krill creatures that resemble shrimp, allows them to grow to these mind-boggling sizes. A single adult blue whale may eat roughly 4 tons of krill each day at certain periods of the year.


Baleen whales, like blue whales, have fringed plates of a substance resembling fingernails attached to their upper jaws. The big mouthful of water that the giant creatures first consume causes the skin of their belly and throat to pleat in order to take it in. The water is then forced through the delicate, overlapping baleen plates by the whale's enormous tongue. Numerous thousands of krill are abandoned before being ingested. Blue whales are supposed to be able to hear each other up to 1,000 miles away in good conditions because to a series of pulses, groans, and moans that they generate. In addition to using their vocalizations for communication, researchers believe that these animals also use their keen hearing to navigate the dark ocean depths via sonar.


The orca is the only natural predator of blue whales that is known to exist, though it is uncertain how often orcas actually kill their prey. Other predators range from larger creatures like mosasaurs, great white sharks, large marine mammals, marine reptiles, and Elder Dragons.

Conservation

Blue whales, like other large whales, are under danger from environmental change, especially toxics and habitat loss. Additionally, ship hits and getting hooked in fishing gear can injure blue whales. Despite the fact that commercial whaling is no longer a threat, climate change and its effects on krill, the primary prey of blue whales, render this cetacean particularly susceptible.

Behavior

Blue whales are not thought to be threatening to people, despite their size. These gentle giants don't harm people and devour little organisms. In reality, humans frequently shoot them for their meat, oil, and fat, which has contributed to their endangered condition.

Distribution and Habitat

Although the Blue Whale is a global species, it is not present in some regional areas, including the Mediterranean, Okhotsk, and Bering seas. Prior to the 1960s, commercial catches were the main source of information on the distribution of blue whales. Thereafter, sightings from whaling vessels, followed by specialized sighting surveys and platforms of opportunity, and since the 2000s, acoustic detections, particularly of males, have been a secondary source of information.


Tamed

You will need to adhere to two principles in order to tame the whale. To continue feeding the blue whale is the first step. The second is to get rid of or divert the animals that are around the blue whale. To stay near to the blue whale, using a rapid water mount would be beneficial. Blue whales were shot to tranquilize them, feed them while they were asleep, and continuously overdose on opioids.

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