How many blue whales weigh. The biggest whales in the world.

On our planet there are several tens of thousands of animal species, but only some of them possess. Animals dwell everywhere: on land, in the air, underground, and in water. We will stop at the last place of residence of living beings. Since childhood, everyone knows that whales are the greatest animals living in aquatic environment. But few people guess that among them there are also incomparable giants. Present the reader information about what the most big whales in the world.

Length 10.7 meters

The top of the world's largest whales opens the smallest whale from the family of polysya. An animal feeding with plankton and fine fish, has fins and belly white, and dark gray the upper color of the body. A distinctive feature of polymatics are its white stripes behind the head.

It dwells in the waters of both the northern and southern hemisphere. The length of the largest individual reached 10.7 meters.

The leader in the number of annually mined polymatics is "Country Ascending sun"- Japan. Whaling fishery is approximately 900 individuals. In the second and third places, Norway and Iceland are located, respectively.

Length 13-17 meters

China's movement speed is no more than 8 km / h. As a result, it becomes easy prey for a person. Currently is on the verge of extinction. The number of whales preserved does not exceed 300 individuals.

Length 17-18 meters

Another animal of our rating of the biggest whales of the world, from the family of polysya. It received its name because of the spinal fin in the shape of a hump. The largest individuals of this type of animals reaches the size of 17-18 meters. The mass does not exceed 50 tons. China has a specific shape and color of the body, very long breast fins (30% of the whole body), and a large tail fin. The species is common throughout the world Ocean, except for the Northern Icetic. Russia meets only in a small part of the Barents Sea.

Length 18 meters

Another type of family of smooth whales. Animals, 18 meters and body weight up to 80 tons, are painted, varying from dark brown to isc. black. A distinctive feature of southern whales are commercials under the jaw and over the eyes. Head size is 1/3 body size. There is no dorsal fin. South smooth whale females are physically larger than males.

Animals, which are among the biggest whales in the world, live in the southern ocean (moderate and subepolar latitudes).

For a long time, this species was threatened, but, at present, the number of individuals exceeds more than 7,000.

Length 19 meters

This kind of China is not enough of the smooth North Atlantic, but it is larger. Particularly large individuals reach the size of 19 m. The weight of Japanese China does not exceed 80 tons. Black-colored individuals with small spinal fin feed crustaceans. Swim slowly, but they like to jump out of the water often. The birth rate of Japanese China is low. Females give birth to one young every three or four years. At the same time, they must reach the age of 6-12 years. Inhabit the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, sometimes found from the coast of Mexico. Now Japanese whale under the threat of extinction. On the planet there are 400 individuals of this type of one of the largest animals in the world.

Length 20 meters

Cachelotes live with groups, the number of several dozen individuals. This type of mammal is pronounced by sexual dimorphism, that is, females have smaller sizes, differ in the body shape, head. The largest individuals of males reach a length of 20 meters, and weigh 50 tons. Females - 15 meters, 20 tons.

Coughly habitat area is common throughout the World Ocean, with the exception of the coldest areas.

Length 20 meters

The person reaches the length of 20 meters, and the mass of 30 tons, refers to the family of polymatics. Dark gray whale with a large spinal fin feeds on mollusks, fish, gathering in flocks, and crustaceans. Savil lives for over 60 years. Poland occurs in 5-7 years. Develops speed more than 25 km / h. Habitat: World Ocean in places with temperature above 8 degrees, but below 26. In Russia, this type of one of the largest whales in the world can be found in Kuril Islands And in the Barents Sea (rarely).

Length 18-22 meters

The most hardened whale in the world lives in the polar regions of the Arctic and off the coast of Greenland. It has a size of 18-22 meters and body weight from 75 to 150 tons, depending on the floor of the animal. The mammal accelerates to a speed of 20 km / h. Immersed with a depth of more than 200 meters and can remain there for 40 minutes.

Lives for about 40 years. Separate individuals can exist more than 100 years. The record of the life expectancy of the Greenland Whale amounted to 211 years. An animal, located on the third line of the top of the largest whales in the world, feeds on plankton and crustaceans.

Length 27 meters

It is the second largest animal in the world and the closest relative of the blue whale. The view that lives in the northern and southern hemispheres belongs to the family of polymatics. The maximum length of the adult individual reaches 27 meters. The size of the females is more than the size of males, but their weight is approximately the same - 40-70 tons.

An animal with a back of dark gray and white belly, prefers to live by one. But sometimes gets into flocks up to 5-6 individuals. It is considered the fastest whale in the world. Its speed reaches 50 km / h. Immersed at the maximum depth - 230 meters.

Length 33 meters

Blue whales live alone. Sometimes they are knocked into small groups, but even they float apart from each other. Dwell throughout the world's ocean. On average, the individuals of blue whale live about 80 years. The oldest officially registered age of the animal was 110 years. Currently, blue whale is on the verge of extinction. And in the 60s of the last century, it was almost exterminated. Scientists are doing everything possible to increase the number of populations. Now the number of mammals is 10,000 individuals.

The blue whales are the greatest animals of our planet: adults have a length of 24 to 30 meters, while the females may exceed the sizes of males to 10 meters. In the XX century They were almost completely exterminated due to commercial fishery. And only after the universal ban on the destruction of whales, their number began to gradually increase.

The upper part of whale is a motley blue-gray, while the bottom is light gray or yellow-white. The yellowish shade of the abdominal part of the animal attach the growth of microscopic single-celled seaweed, called diatoms. These plants are common in cold marine waters.

It is officially believed that the most large part of the female, which was caught in the last century, a kitoboy, a length of 23 m 58 cm. Weigh these animals can up to 200 tons. For comparison: weight african elephant It is 7.5 tons. Blue whale heart size with a car whose strikes can be heard over 3 kilometers. One of the species of the species is the blue pygmy whales. They are three meters shorter than their larger relatives.

These animals have one incomparable quality: blue whales are the loudest animals on Earth. The volume of their callsigns reaches 188 decibels, which significantly exceeds the sound of the reactive motor - 140 decibels. Sorodi's song The animal can hear at a distance exceeding 1.5 thousand km.

In addition to huge sizes, distinguishing signs of blue whales are a relatively small dorsal fin, the rounded part of the front of the skull and about 90 longitudinal furrows on the belly reaching the Pup.

Features of communication

The blue whales traveling alone, sometimes in groups of 2-3 individuals, sometimes in groups of 2-3 individuals. Large flocks that can include 60 animals are fixed in places of food clusters.

But there is one "but". Blue Whale is the strongest voice from all animals, the low frequencies of which are capable of spreading in a deep-sea environment for many hundreds and even thousands of kilometers. Therefore, the fact that people may seem like "single" swimming, in reality is not. Thanks to the ability to negotiate, single floating whale is often in close contact and communication with relatives.

Food

Whales feed on, plunging every 10-20 minutes to a depth of about 100 meters. The stomach can at times to accommodate about one ton of krill. His kille needs make up about 4 tons daily during summer feeding.

In the mouth there is a so-called "whale mustache" of black. These are horny plates hanging from the upper heaven, 300-400 pcs. from each side. The length of the plates ranges from 50 cm in front to 100 cm at the back. In order to eat, the animals spread the "whale musty" in the throat and absorb water with an armful, sieving it through the horny plates. After that, water is produced through a whale mustache, and the Krill remaining in his mouth is swallowed.

Life cycle

The female gives rise usually one pile of every two or three years. Currently, such a birth rate exceeds the speed of the destruction of animals during the hunt, which continues until now.

During the birth of potholes is the largest newborn animal on Earth: it has 8 meters long and weighs about 4 tons. At the same time, the pregnancy of the female lasts a year, and usually one kid is born. Young grows at a speed of 90 kg per day. Childhood ends at 7-8 months, after the animal reaches 15 m length and is learning to swim on their own. The period of maturity animals reaches 5 - 10 years.

The growth rate of blue whale also affects imagination and is the highest in the animal world. Only for the year and a half the size of the fabrics increase in several billion times.

Like other cetaceans, blue whales do not have teeth. Therefore, scientists are difficult to determine the age of the animal. It is believed that the average duration of their lives reaches 50 years, individual individuals are capable of living to ninety, and the oldest is considered an animal, the dead aged 110 years.

Extermination of whales

Before the start of active whaling fishery, the population of blue whales exceeded 250 thousand individuals. But in the XX century. Because of merciless hunt, they were almost exterminated. In the period from 1904 to 1967, only in the southern hemisphere more than 350 thousand individuals were killed. Many animals died and from the hands of Soviet kitoboes from 1960 to 1970.

It was especially strong to China in 1931, which comes from the flourishing of the fishery. In this year, more than 29 thousand blue whales were destroyed only for one whaling season. And only in 1967, the situation began to be corrected when the world community stood on the defense of the animals, "and the whaling fishery was banned.

Population today

Nowadays, blue whales are common worldwide. Their habitat includes all the world's oceans, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean. Blue whales are one of the most rare varieties of cetacean. How many exactly on earth, scientists still have not decided. Their number fluctuates from 10 to 25 thousand.

One of the numerous populations of these animals, the growth of which continues the encouraging pace is the population of whales that live in the northern part of the Pacific Near the American California state. The number of its representatives reaches 2 thousand.

Such a kind as pygmy whale or dwarf whales, lives mainly in the Indian Ocean. Recent studies speak in favor of the fact that these animals live in other areas of our planet.

Blue whales prefer to swim in deep-sea ocean waters. In the summer, they migrate towards the poles, in cooler waters. In winter, animals float back to the equator in warm water to reproduction. Due to the fact that the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres in time are opposite, the populations of representatives living in different ends of the planet are not communicated and not mixed with each other.

Danger for whales

Most biologists came to the conclusion that the blue whales are most susceptible to the danger of a complete disappearance of all cetaceans. A serious danger for them is:

water pollution by chemicals;
violation of the sound natural balance, because of which they are unable to find a couple;
loss of permanent habitat;
collisions with ships and confusion in fishing gear.

Climate change can have a significant effect on the supply of food, since global warming can lead to a shear of the acid-alkaline balance of sea water into the acidic side. This will affect the number of krill, which feeds blue whales.

Because of the climatic changes in the front areas, habitats of blue whales, there is a shift on south. In the front zones, water can rise from the depths, bringing with them the giant amounts of nutrients. This stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, and also creates conditions for the growth of populations that feed animals.

As a result of the migration of the front zones at a distance of 200-500 km, the blue whales are forced to migrate on to feed. Such movements over time can significantly reduce the energy reserves in the body and reduce the time of the feeding seasons. As the frontal zones are shifted in the southern direction, they reduce areas where animal species can develop, which serve as food for blue whales.

Existing whales are divided into 2 sub-trainers: tasty (toothless) and ribbed.

Music whales exist 10 species.

1. The Greenland adult whale on average weighs from 75 to 100 tons, sometimes reach 150 tons.
2. South whale weighs up to 80 tons. The weight of the newborn baby is 1000-1500 kg.
3. Dwarf whale is the smallest and weighs 3000-3500 kg.
4. Gray whale weighs 15-35 tons.
5. Humpback whale on average weighs 30 tons, the maximum mass can reach 48 tons.
6. Blue whale is an the largest from the preyed whales, and maybe to weight much more than 150 tons. The language of blue whale weighs about 4 tons.
7. Finval weighs an average of 40-70 tons. The weight of the newborn baby reaches 1800 kg.
8. Savil weighs about 30 tons.
9. Small polymatics weigh an average of 4-5 tons, weight Limit Can reach 14 tons.
10. Bridespit weighs from 16 to 25 tons.

Toothed whales are divided into 10 families.

1. Ganga dolphin weighs 70-90 kg.
2. Dolphins are about 40 species and weigh from 40 kg (Dolphin Maui), up to 10 tons (liqueness). Ordinary dolphin weighs 60-75 kg.
3. Narvalovaya there are 2 types: Narval - weighs 1.5 tons, and Beluha - weighs 2 tons.
4. Amazonian dolphin (Ineni) weighs 98-205 kg.
5. Cachelot weighs about 50 tons.
6. Dwarf coushlots weigh no more than 400 kg.
7. Curvory whales weigh from 1000 to 1500 kg.
8. La plank dolphin weighs 20-60 kg.
9. Sea pigs weigh about 120 kg.
10. River Dolphin. Weighs about 160 kg.

Blue Whale, he is a blue whale or a break (lat. Balaenoptera Musculus) is the form of mammals from the kitto-shaped detachment, a representative of the subdirect whales, a family of polysya and genus genus.

According to researchers, blue whale is not only the largest modern animal, but the largest of all the fauna representatives ever inhabited the planet. If you look at the breakwater through the thickness of the water, this whale looks blue or blue, thanks to which he gained his name.

Blue Kit is the biggest animal on the planet.

Biological Name Blue Whale gave the famous Swedish scientist Karl Linney, back in 1758. The first part of the name - Balaenoptera, formed by the Latin and Greek component and in the literal translation means "peer", which means - with fins, like smooth whales.

Regarding the origin of the second part - Musculus, which has 2 values \u200b\u200bon Latin: "Muscles" and "Mouse", the opinions of the researchers somewhat diverge. Some believe that Charles Linno actually joked, calling a giant animal with a mouse, however, realists are inclined to believe that the famous naturalist in such a word I wanted to emphasize the incredible strength and power of the king of the oceans.

Model of blue whale in full size in the American Museum of Natural History.

Dimensions of blue whale.

The giant sizes of the Bowls, according to the testimony of observers, produce a powerful and indelible impression: the greatest recorded dimensions had the greatest dimensions, scored in 1926 in the Atlantic off the coast of the South Shetland Islands. The magnitude of this female turned out to be 33.58 m, and although weighing the animal was not possible, in all likelihood, its mass reached 150 tons.

According to other data, in 1947, in the South Atlantic, Blue Whale was caught, weighing 190 tons. Specimens, about 30 m long were documented in 1922 in the Panaman Canal, and in 1964, a similar one-length breakage was tangled by Soviet Kitobovy near Aleutian Islands.

Due to the sharp reduction in the population, over time the giants were performed today and today is a break, about 30 m. Early exception. The average size of blue whales, inhabitants in the northern hemisphere, usually does not exceed 23.5 m in females and 22.8 m in males, representatives of southern populations are 1 m long. According to some specialists, this figure is slightly underestimated and in fact the average length of females is up to 27 m and about 25 m in males.

Blue Whale: Animal Description

Body structure

The blue whales have an elongated torso with a thick tail skew. A particularly slender body is distinguished by young individuals and scratched males, and feasting females look the most fastened.

The tail fins have a small excavation, and its width reaches 7.6 m. Breast fins are strongly elongated and narrow. The spinal fin is small, features a pointed form and is significantly shifted to the tail. Among all the past whales, the Bolves got the most miniature dorsal fin, constituting only 1% of the body length.

However, the shape and the magnitude of the dorsal fin at different whales is noticeably different: some individuals have a triangular shape and barely acts, others have been much more developed and has a deep sickle recess. The edges of the dorsal fin, especially behind, are made of peculiar scratches that form an individual for each whale drawing. Such a feature allows observers to determine a specific instance.

Head

Blue Whale Skull is very large and is 27% of the total body size. If you look at the breakfast on top, the animal skull is distinguished by a U-shaped form and is noticeably compiled into the profile. The Jaws of Blue Whale differ significantly in their sizes: the lower jaw is highly expanded and over the entire edge covers the upper one. If you look at the animal on the side, the mouth line is located in parallel with the head and almost next to the top line of the skull.

The corners of the pastry of the blessing are badly bent down the book, and a little eyes are located near them. About 20 tactile vibribuses grow on the face. Animal language is very large, its weight can be about 4 kg.

The lower surface of the head, like all polymatics, is made by a set of longitudinal furrows formed by the folds of the skin. The number of bands can reach 90 pieces, and some of them continue on the throat and belly. During the ingestion of significant volumes of water with food, folds help to stretch the throat, and are also important in body hydrodynamics.

The breath was shifted to the back of the head, and both in all the pretty whales, it is 2 holes formed by both nostrils. Right in front of the breath is a pointed grown in the form of a keel, the so-called "Volanol". The exhalation of blue whale is accompanied by the release of water extended upwards, up to 10 m high. The number of fountains corresponds to the number of exhalations, and breathes a break in a calm state from 1 to 4 times per minute.

Leather and her color

The main color of the body of the giants is preferably gray with a bluish sampling, a head and throat is usually dark gray. Belo, the sides and the inner surface of the dorsal fins are brighter, and the lower part of the tail blades on the contrary, especially dark. Dark gray spots of various shapes and sizes are chaotic throughout the body of the breakfast, the skin of animals looks marble. The greatest number of these notes is observed closer to the tail.

In cool waters during feed migrations, blue whales are often covered with diatomic algae, creating a thin film on their skins, so that the skin on the back of the breakfasts may look greenish, and on the belly yellowish. When animals return to warm water, this raid disappears quickly.

Whalebone

On both sides of the upper jaw of the Blesva, paired plates of the whale waw, consisting of keratin - a special horny matter. On each side of such plates there are from 260 to 400 pieces, and their total quantity may exceed 800. Each plate is a triangle located downward, and its inner surface and the top form a coarse and rigid grinded fringe, which is due to eating especially large crustaceans.

A distinctive feature of all the presence of Balaenoptera genus and blessing is absolutely black, molar whale whale, as well as the black sky color, viewing through the loose rows of the whale oce.

The length of the whale wscape plates reaches 90 - 100 cm, with a width of from 50 to 53 cm, with the longest plates are located in the depths of the grazing, and in front of them 2 times shorter. The mass of one plate is about 90 kg.

Features of physiology and anatomy

Vision, smelling and taste sensations of blue whales are very weak. However, the rumors have excellent and beautifully developed touches.

The voice of the blushing is very loud, and the animal-published sound signals are distributed in the infrasound range at a frequency of 8 to 20 Hz, with an intensity of at least 60 decibels. But like most of the major whales, this indicator can reach 189 decibels, and such a signal scientists can register at a distance of 200 to 400 to 1600 km. Animals use their voice to communicate and perfectly hear conides at a distance of up to 33 km.

In the blue whale, the colossal volume of the lungs exceeding 3 thousand liters in an adult animal, which is about 2.5% of the total mass. Moreover, this figure is twice as much as Finvala - the nearest relative and the largest whale after blessing from the family of polysya.

Blooding the Blue Whale Conditions Conducts more than 8 thousand liters of blood, while the width of the spinal aorta lumen is about 40 cm. The heart of the break was the biggest among all animals on the planet, and its weight in an adult instance can reach tons. The average pulse rate of giants is about 5 - 10 shots per minute, and the maximum indicator does not exceed 20.

During feed migrations, the blue whales feed the fat layer, up to 30 cm thick, and the weight of the burst (skins along with fat) is 27% of the total body weight. This indicator is absolute among other polymatics, but the rudeness record still belongs to representatives of the smooth whale family (Japanese and Greenland).

Back of blue whale.

Cinema in the surface of the water.

The subspecies of the blue whale

In scientific circles, there are still disputes on the species of Bivalla, but most scientists still shares a view of 3 subspecies.

Northern Blue Kit

Just this breakfast was first described by Karl Linney, therefore, this subspecies is considered to be typical, with the basic characteristics of the species inherent in it.

South Blue Kit

The most massive subspecies of the breakfasts, which make up a significant proportion of the main population. The indicative characteristic of representatives of the subspecies is the largest sizes of the body, but other features that animals can be distinguished in natural conditions, Hardly ever.

Dwarf blue whale, he is a whale pygmy

For the first time, the population of these animals was discovered in the late 50s of the last century, near the archipelago of Herd, Croza and Kergelen, which are located in the Indian Ocean. Soon the animals described, counted the variety of breakfasts and classified as subspecies. However, today a number of researchers allocate whale-pygmy, as an independent view.

As such, China's dwarf is difficult to call, its value is only 3 m less than the length of a typical relative. Nevertheless, Kit-Pigmey has a number of characteristic differences in which it is possible to unmistakably determine the involvement of the animal to this meaning.

Dwarf whales have a particularly short tail stem, which is noticeable when the animal dive and reflected in the title of the subspecies: translated from Latin, BreviCauda, \u200b\u200bmeans - a short-time. Indeed, pygmy whale boasts inherent in harvesting blesses, their bodies are rather thick and have a characteristic tear-shaped form.

Another sign of dwarf whales - the plates of their Us are somewhat shorter than the nearest relatives. Characteristic of the Bolves migrating to the south, marble spot, in dwarf whale is barely distinguishable, thanks to which the hypothesis was put forward that the pygmy whale was constantly inhabited in the Indian Ocean Itasman's Sea and are unlikely to make migration.

In the past, some researchers allocated 1 more subspecies - Indian blue whale living in the north Indian OceanBut today scientists tend to consider it part of China Pigmy's population.

Where inhabit blue whales?

Blue whale - cosmopolitan, and in the past the region of distribution of these animals extended throughout the world ocean. Nowadays, representatives of the northern and southern subspecies are more about cool climates, pygmy whales prefer to dwell in a warmer climate.

In the Equatorial waters of the Indian Ocean, Blevols are common year-round, but the largest cluster of animals is celebrated by the coast of Maldives and Ceylon, to a lesser extent they are noticed in Adenian Gulf And in the area of \u200b\u200bSeychel. According to experts, the southeastern coast of Industan is considered the best place To study these animals.

IN Pacific Ocean There are a lot of significant populations of blue whales. Their area of \u200b\u200bdistribution begins in the Chilean coast, on, the California coast is becoming more and more, and north of animals come across the shores of Oregon to Kuril and Aleutian islands, but there are no far away in the Bering Sea.

Previously, blue whales often observed off the coast of Korea and Japan, but then they disappeared from there. In the territorial waters of Russia, the breakfasts are practically not found, individual specimens are rarely marked by the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula - Cape of the blade.

The number of blue whales in North Atlantic is significantly inferior to the southern hemisphere. Here animals can be observed off the coast of Canada, Iceland, in the Greenland Strait and off the coast of Spitsberegin. Extremely rarely animals meet the Spanish shores and the coast of Gibraltar.

During the migrations, the southern and northern subspecies of blue whales almost never cross the equator. Winter animal migrations poorly studied, although it is known that the populations of both hemispheres, in the summer inhabiting high latitudes, they are sent to warmer water of low latitudes.

The migrations of the blue whales of the North Atlantic remained for a long time for scientists in a mystery: the researchers could not understand why the blue whales with the onset of cold weather leave abundant forage areas and go to warm waters with a scant feed database. The only reasonable hypothesis is the justified behavior of females, which will lead their newly born youngsters from cold waters, because a small amount of subcutaneous fat practically does not protect young whales from the cold.

Lifestyle blue whales

In his way of life, the blue whales - loners, and what this feature is expressed in the balls much stronger than those of other cetaceans. Large clusters of blue whales at 50 - 60 individuals can be observed only in places with an abundant feed base, but still animals are holding apart from each other at a decent distance. As a rule, only the monogamous couples and their cubs live nearby.

The blue whales lead a daily lifestyle, and feed on the depth or floating at the surface of the water. Unlike most polymatics, the breakfasts are sufficiently slow, clumsy and not particularly maneuverable.

Frightened or wounded blue whale dives quite deeply and able to dive up to 540 m. Diving, the blisters lowers the head down and greatly bends his giant body, so the head and the front of the body are under water, and only the arcuate part of the back and the spine remains on the surface. fin. Then the arc begins to settle and the animal is hidden in the thickness of the water without showing its tail. To see the tail fins of the animal researchers, it is possible only in 15% of cases.

The breakfast can be in the thickness of water from 5 to 20 minutes, and after a long immersion, it makes from 6 to 15 short pop-ups and minor dives. During the highest digits, blue whales is finally shown in all its glory along with the tail stem. This usually happens when you first emerge from a great depth, and then before the next deep immersion.

Blue whales swim quite quickly for their dimensions: the average speed of migratory animals is about 33 km / h, in a short distance increases to 37 km / h, a maximum of up to 48. At the same time, the breakthrough develops about 500 horsepower, but because of the huge Loads on the body for a long time in such a pace can not. In the fodder territories, the blue whales move at a speed of about 2 - 3 km / h.

Diet and power supply

Like all polymatics, the diet of blue whales consists of plankton - small crustaceans, up to 6 cm long, which form at the bottom of the ocean large clustersThe name of Krill. Usually, the diet of animals, regardless of the habitat, is no more than 2 types of crustaceans.

Fish Blue Whale practically does not eat if it comes across, it is by chance, during the swallowing of Krill. In the absence of the required amount of plankton, the breakfast can use small squid, steel fish and racks that do not belong to the curve.

Krill - Basic Blue Whale Food.

Significant clusters of plankton crustaceans are usually at a depth of 100 to 200 m, and the breakfast feeds quite slowly, so one dive during the feeding occupies about 8 minutes.

Like all whales, it feeds with a perfectly developed commodity apparatus. The animal opens the massive mouth, while the stripes on his throat are extremely stretched, and the movable mightily adequate joint helps the greatest disclosure.

Blue whale slowly floats and stresses water from the bottom with a huge number of plankton, after which it closes the mouth and its massive language squeezes the water outward through the whale plate, as through a peculiar colander. The wraps are settled on the fringe side of the Usa, after which the whale swallows them. But what is noteworthy, the diameter of the pharynx of gigids is only 10 cm.

The mouth of an adult animal accommodates about 32 m3 of water and 60 kg of krill, so sometimes the breakage is not able to close his jaws and throwing the feed, falls on the side or turns the belly up, after which the strength of gravity makes the jaws slam down.

To feed, Blue Whale needs tremendous food volumes: for 1 day, the break eats up to 6 - 8 tons of krill, which is in quantitative ratio of about 40 million racks. Thus, in order to be saturated, the breakfast should eat the amount of feed for at least 3-4% of its own mass every day. After a successful feeding of an adult animal's stomach, it is able to accommodate up to 1.5 tons of krill.

Furious migrations, during which the blue whales are especially actively feeding, continue for about 4 months. Animals coming into place of feeding on observations of researchers are extremely thin, but quickly gain weight and are noticeably fat.

The reproduction of blue whales

The blue whales breed is extremely slow, so the increase in their common population among all the preyed whales causes the greatest fears. The blue whales form strong monogamous pairs, and the male is always next to the female and under no circumstances leave it.

The sexual maturity of the balls occurs at the age of 8 - 10 years, the females are growing up to 23 m and weigh about 87 tons. However, breakfasts continue to grow for about 5 years and fully physical maturity reaches by 15 years.

The duration of pregnancy, by different data, is from 10 to 12 months. The symptoms of blue whale develops several embryos, as a rule, not more than 7. This property is called atavism and inherited by all whales from their land ancestors, whose offspring consisted of several young.

In late pregnancy, most embryos are absorbed and usually appears only 1 young, twins are rare exception, no more than 1 case from 100. The length of the newborn is about 6 - 8 m, and the body weight reaches 2 - 3 tons.

Mother feeds a young about 7 months, with females milk extremely fatty (from 37 to 50%), and about half is the mass fraction of squirrel and fat. During the day, the young drinks about 90 liters of milk and daily increase in the weight of the baby is about 44 kg.

During this time, the cub grows up to the magnitude of adult coushlot (16 m) and has a lot of about 23 tons. At the age of 18 months, the length of a young break reaches 20 m, with a mass of about 50 tons.

Blue whales - long-livers among mammals, according to experts, the average life expectancy of breakfast is 80 to 90 years, and the record recorded among the studied individuals belongs to a 100-year copy.

Head of blue whale.

Blowed like a commercial object

Thanks to the gigantic sizes, the production of blue whales always represented certain difficulties, but in the middle of the 19th century, the harpoon gun was invented and the task of the kitoboev was significantly simplified. The present scope of the fishing extermination of the blue whales fell at the beginning of the 20th century, when the annual slaughter was from 2 to 6 thousand individuals, and by the 30th year reached 20- 29 thousand copies.

Blue whales exterminated for various needs. From the carcass of the adult breakfast was obtained from 27 to 45 tons of fat and 60 tons of meat. Compared to sewage whales, for example, with coushlot, meat of breakfasts does not have a sharp smell of burst, but differs in a tender structure and a pleasant taste resembling veal. Despite the prohibition of fishery, today, whale meat is especially revered in Japan and 1 kg of product is estimated at about $ 160.

Before the invention of plastics, durable whale mustache was widely used to make various household items: corsets, mattress springs and brushes.

Number of livestock

Prior to the beginning of intensive fishing, the global number of breakfasts ranged from 200 to 350 thousand individuals, but in connection with the catastrophic reduction in the livestock in 1966, the fishing of the blue whales was completely banned and animals contributed to the Red Book as an extinctional appearance.

According to the most optimistic forecasts, about 3-4 thousand blue whales live in the northern hemisphere, and in South - from 5 to 10 thousand. However, a number of specialists assesses the world population of breakfasts just 2 thousand individuals, and this The figure is even lower than in the middle of the last century, when the whale hunt was completely prohibited.

Threats of population

Ocean pollution with oil and other poisonous chemical products leads to the accumulation of harmful substances in the adipose tissue of animals and the body of pregnant females. The life and reproductive cycle of blue whales is reduced, in the womb of females there are mutations of embryos and as a result - the birth of non-viable offspring.

The noise produced by the hydroacoustic systems of modern ships, possess the same frequency as the voices of whales, so communication is violated among animals, every year it becomes more difficult to navigate in space and look for tribesmen and partners for breeding.

In areas with intensive shipping, the blue whales are dying from collisions with ships, for example, Canadian coasts have a significant part of individuals on the skins traces of injuries received from ships and fishing gear. In such areas, the captains of the courts are prescribed to reduce the speed, but as practice shows, such recommendations are rarely implemented.

Adult blesses due to their giant sizes, protected from the attacks of marine predators, but young individuals often become the prey of killer, which are always attacking organized flocks, tear the victim to pieces and eat.

According to experts, a decline in the population of blue whales due to human intervention and the influence of the anthropogenic factor is about 25% per year. Representatives of the Northern Hemisphere population at the end of winter are sometimes dying under the ice, so the annual natural reduction in the population of blue whales is only 4%.

Pictures of blue whale

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The largest marine mammal on the planet, and in general all over the world, is blue whale. At the moment, it was possible to detect the largest representative of the sea depths, its length is almost 34 meters, and the weight is 200 tons!

In addition to the huge sizes of the body itself, Blue Whale Just incredibly large internal organs are. Huge blue whale is included in. For example, only a language weighs more than 4,000 kilograms, and the heart is 700 kg! By the way, such huge sizes are not uncommon in the ocean, probably, few people know that in 1870 near the shores North America It was found, the so-called - more than 35 meters in length, and this, for comparison, the height of the 9-storey building!

When a small whale appears on the light (on the water), its mass can already be about 3 tons, and it will be long with a small tree - 6-7 meters. Agree, such a cub is quite difficult to imagine. Whales according to various sources can live as much as a hundred years, and all this time "small" whale grows with a very fast speed. It should be noted that despite such a long life expectancy, these marine mammals They produce offspring very slowly. The female of the blue whale becomes sexually extinguishable by 10 years and give birth to every 2 years, and they carry their cubs about a year. At the same time, in our time, these non-worn noble and powerful mammals are mercilessly destroyed for industrial purposes, and with such a speed that females even sometimes do not have time to achieve the maternal age ... now the population Blue whales - the biggest whales in the worldSo much decreases that they are already on the verge of extinction. In Japan, fishery reached such brutal scales that whales were left there at all.

The color of the mammalian is basically gray, with a blue tint. A blue whale was nicknamed from the fact that when you look at it through the water, it seems precisely in blue or blue. Brojel and fins whale lighter than the rest of his body.

Blue whales live both in warm and cold waters (tropical and polar seas). Despite the fact that these creatures have no teeth, they feed with all the shallow maritime, starting with plankton and ending with a small fish. For the power of blue whales, there is a so-called "whale" - a fixture similar to a huge sieve or a brush that misses the elements unwanted to supply China, as well as water. In other words, the most big Whale It will not be able to eat a person, even by chance, as the same bloodthirsty, therefore the type of whales is considered partly safe in this regard. On the other hand, the blue whale can easily flip the medium-sized vessel, simply randomly assured, sailing past or showing interest in people.

There is a theory that whales came from sushi into the water. This indicates the structure of his skeleton, not at all reminiscent of the fish, in the blue whale there is even a finger bone on the front fins. In addition, he is a mammal creation, does not mold caviar and does not lay eggs, such as a turtle.

The biggest whales in the world Very bad eyesight and smell, so they communicate with sounds. In order for other whales to hear the call of their relatives, it needs to transfer messages with a capacity of about 20 hertz. Whales can hear each other at a distance of about 800 km and even more. However, if this sound is not only with a smaller, but also with more power, whale is doomed to be unrelated with his fellow. And whales in their most part ocean and sea depths in proud loneliness.

Specifically for unimagound
Ekaterina Yakovlev

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