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The Blue Whale

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Eric long

on 6 February 2011

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Transcript of The Blue Whale

BLUE WHALE Earth's biggest animal Physical adaptations The blue whale's tail is able to propel
it at very fast speeds (20-25mph). Before
the invention of steam, whales could
simply outrun hunters and other predators. Behavioral adaptations A blue whale doesn't have teeth. They
have thousands of large bristles called
baleen to catch small shrimp called Krill.
They eat about 7700 pounds of these
tiny creatures a day during feeding
season. Baby whales are born large. A day old
baby can be up to 25 feet in length. They
need to grow fast so they won't be picked
off by preditors. They drink over 200
pounds of their mother's milk a day. http://e-fishingnews.com/amazing/477 http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/03/kingdom_of_the_blue_whale_facts_of_the_blue_whale_visualized.html http://marinesciencetoday.com/2009/05/12/blue-whales-returning-to-pre-whaling-feeding-grounds/ http://www.starfiretor.com/TheWhaleAndDolphinPeopleProject/LivingPhotos.htm http://www.australianfauna.com/bluewhale.php http://chanmannkit.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/the-blue-whale/ Avoiding predators Getting sufficient resources references Reproduction Blue whales communicate using low frequency noises that are louder than a passenger jet. These noises let them communicate with each other over up to a thousand miles away. During the summer feeding season the blue whale eats up to 4 tons or more food a day, which is equal to 40 million Krill. It does this to prepare for migration to the tropics, where food is not as plentiful. The calf swims close to its mother because it knows if it swims away it could get picked off by any decently sized predator. Avoiding predators Getting sufficient resources Reproduction http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/blue-whale.html http://www.earthsendangered.com/list_html.asp http://www.earthsendangered.com/list_html.asp The scientific name of the blue whale is Balaenoptera musculus, but there are three different species, so there are three names. Balaenoptera musculus musculus is in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, Balaenoptera musculus intermedia is in the Southern Ocean, and Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda is in the Indian and South Pacific Ocean. The blue whale is closly related to alot of other smaller whales like the fin whale and humpback whale. The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is a tiny bit smaller than the blue whale measuring at just under 88 feet, but it is still the second largest whale and second largest animal on earth. It is found in every major ocean in the world, except for the cooler polar areas. It eats fish, squid, crustaceans like krill, and is also endangered.

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliaeis) the least endangered. The humpback grows to about 50 feet and has a unique body with long fins and a slight hump. It ranges through all of the world's oceans and eats small fish and krill. The blue whale was hunted for many years. Almost all countries wanted it for its valuable oils and meat. Only recently have protection laws banned the hunting of blue whales in almost all countries. The blue whale population has slowly been rising ever since, but there are still only a few thousand left when hundreds of thousands lived before.
If hunting started up again and the blue whale went extinct, it would not have a great impact on the rest of the food chain. With only about 5,000 to 10,000 blue whales, the huge krill population would be a little bigger, but there is no shortage of krill today. The populations of other animals who eat krill, like seals, fish, penguins, squid, and baleen whales would benefit a bit. The humans who eat blue whales would not be impacted because there are other food sources.
It would be almost impossible to put a blue whale in a zoo. The only way would be to quarantine a harbour or a strech of coastline about 100 km by 100 km, fence it off then capture a blue whale. The next challenge would be to feed the whale 4 tonnes of krill a day. The habitat of the blue whale was once in every ocean of the world before hunting. Today because of hunting there are five main groups of 5,000 to 12,000 in total scattered around the world. They feed in the colder regions, diving miles deep in the ocean to eat krill, then migrate to tropical areas to breed.

The blue whale has a very broad niche when it comes to habitat. It dives to great depths and endures hot and cold temperatures, but when it comes to food the blue whale has a very narrow niche in that it only eats krill. Overall, I would say that the blue whale in general has a broad niche. The blue whale taxonomy, niches and habitat the end Scientific names of the species Closely related species - Fin Whale Closely related species - Humpback whale General habitat Reason it is endangered What would happen if the blue whale became extinct Possible zoo habitat
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