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| Adult blue whale |
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is amarine mammal belonging to the baleen whales (Mysticeti). At up to 30 metres (98 ft)[10][11] in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tonnes (191 short tons) and probably reaching over 181 tonnes (200 short tons), it is the largest animal ever known to have existed. Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinct subspecies.
Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalersuntil protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide, in at least five groups.
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| A blue whale set against the backdrop of the Azores |
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| The blow of a blue whale |
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| View of a blue whale and its bow wave, showing the blowhole |
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| View of a blue whale and its bow wave, showing the blowhole |
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| Close view of Blue Whale |
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| Group of whales - pod |
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| Blue whale chasing |
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| During a staff trip to Baja, Mexico, the blue moon team had a chance to go whale watching in the Sea of Cortez. Cabo Adventures |
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| A blue whale lifting its tail flukes |
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| A blue whale's tail fluke |
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| Blue whale skeleton, outside the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz |
Photo Source: Collected from Internet
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