Whales

The Wonderful World of Whales

By A.S.

20/08/25

  In this essay I will be talking about whales.  There are 21 different whale species including the 3 I will discuss, which are the blue whale, the humpback whale and the smallest of the all whales, the vaquita. I will discuss the different sizes of the whales, the different diet whales consume, and where they migrate. 

  I will start by discussing the largest of the 21 breeds of whales, the blue whale. The blue whale grows up to 30 metres long and weighs up to 136 tons. They eat krill. A fun fact is that they can consume 4-8 tonnes daily. Also, in winter the whales migrate to tropical waters around Mexico where they mate and have their calves. In summer whales migrate to colder waters like the arctic and Antarctica.

  I will now talk about the humpback whales. I chose this because I have seen a humpback whale in Australia. The humpback whale grows up to 17 metres long and weighs up to 40 tonnes. The humpback whale mostly eats krill but also squid and small fish. These whales migrate from Antarctica to the East Coast of Australia where they mate and birth around the Great Barrier Reef. Humpback whales travel up to 26,000km a year.

  In this paragraph I will talk about the smallest of the 21 whales, the Vaquita whale.  The vaquita whale grows up to 150 cm long and weighs from 27 to 68kg. These whales are found in the upper Gulf of California. They eat crustaceans, squid and demersal fish. Unlike their relatives, Vaquitas do not migrate.

  As you can see, whales are magnificent creatures with 21 different species. The size difference between the biggest (the blue whale) and the smallest (the vaquita) is huge. It's crazy how the blue whale grows up to 30 metres long and the vaquita only grows up to 150 cm. Also, the blue whale and the humpback whales migrate, but the vaquitas do not. Whales are terrific!