What makes whales so amazing - Everything you need to know about whales

Did you know that the variety of whales is quite big and each of them is unique on its own? In this article, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about whales and what makes them so amazing!

The biggest whale

The largest creature on Earth is the blue whale, which is larger than any of the dinosaurs that have lived on our planet. In fact, the largest ever recorded was a female, found in the Antarctic Ocean, that was 30.5 m long.

With a weight of almost 144 tonnes, only the tongue of the whale weighs as much as an elephant. The mammal’s most important organ, the heart, can weight up to 450kg, whereas the aorta is large enough for a child to crawl in.

Blue whale’s calfs

Unlike the human birth, female whales are pregnant for up to twelve months. Upon birth, the newborn weighs between 5.5 - 7.3 tonnes, while being about 7.5 m long.

A baby whale consumes up to 225 liters of its mother’s milk a day, which allows them to gain 3.7 kilograms per hour. The mother often stays with the calf for up to a year, or until the calf is larger than 13 m.

The deepest diver

When it comes to diving, the Sperm whales can dive up to 2,000 meters for almost two hours. Their main nutrient source is the squid, which lives deep into the ocean.

Another great diver is the Cuvier’s beaked whale, which was recorded to dive up to 3km for over two hours.

Brain size

With a brain of around 9kg, there isn’t a mammal in the animal kingdom that can outweigh the competition of the sperm’s whale. The size is no surprise due to its huge head, which covers up to a third of its body length.

Their heads have a large cavity that contains wax. The wax is also called spermaceti, which is highly desired by hunters. Just to note, if you wonder which whales have the largest testicles - it is the southern right whale, with a weigh of a tonne for each pair.

The most endangered specie

Currently, no more than 500 North Atlantic whales exist, whereas the North Pacific specie is fewer than 100.

Another endangered whale is the Western Pacific Gray with a population of fewer than 150 individuals. However, the Bryde’s whales top the rankings with less than 50 existing

Which specie makes the longest migration

The top spot for longest migration of a mammal is the one of the humpback whale, which lives in the Antarctic waters but swims north to the coasts of Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama.

Another long-distance traveler is the gray whale, which is the only rival of the humpback species. Some individuals are recorded to travel a distance of 16,000-20,000km a year.

Studies have found that in a whale’s lifetime, the individual can travel the same distance required to reach the moon and come back. If you’ve been amazed by these facts, then it might be time for whale watching at Dana Point.