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Rest of the Moon under da cuuuuut

Yes! Here they are:

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet, but that doesn’t adequately convey the amount of space available for aquatic animals to roam. Where land animals are limited by gravity, marine animals can go from coastal shallows to trenches the depths of which humans have barely begun to explore.

So it’s no surprise that the planet’s largest creatures, , are ocean-dwelling. In terms of the world’s largest animals, the competition isn’t even close.

The next largest animal of any species, the READ MORE: North Atlantic Right Whale Facts

Whale Facts

Whale Size

Whale Habitat

Whale Diet

Are Whales Endangered?

Whale Conservation

Whale Facts

About Whales

Whale Facts

1. Whales are one of around 80 species of Cetaceans, including other , baleen whale.

2. Like other mammals, this species is warm-blooded and breathes via lungs. Mothers give birth to live baby Whales, which they then nurse. 

3. The Whale’s scientific name is Balaenoptera musculus, and there are actually three subspecies. Balaenoptera musculus musculus inhabits the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Balaenoptera musculus intermedia lives in the Southern Ocean, and Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda lives in the Indian Ocean.

4. Despite their common name, the Whale is actually a more mottled blue-gray color when out of the water. However, underwater their skin appears to be true blue. Their pale bellies often take on a yellowish tinge, which results from the millions of microorganisms that live in their skin.

5. In addition to being the largest animal in the world, they’re amongst the longest living animals as well. The average Whale lifespan is 80 to 90 years, but some live to 110 ( are the longest living mammal, at over 200 years). Strangely, a whale’s age is calculated by counting the layers of their waxy earplugs, á la tree rings!

READ MORE: Southern Resident Killer Whale Facts

Whale by NOAA Fisheries/Lisa Conger [Public domain]

Whale Size

6. Whale size is staggering to consider: They can measure in the vicinity of 100 feet long (making them the longest animal in the world), and can weigh up to 200 tons. It’s difficult to conceive when we imagine something so big that sometimes moves at considerable speeds. 

7. The Whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth. They are larger, longer, and heavier than any other animal, including all known species of dinosaurs.

8. More trivial tidbits about Whale size: Its tongue weighs as much as an elephant and is roughly the same length. The Whale weighs the equivalent of about 40 full-grown READ MORE: 60 Weird Animals Around the World

Whale by janeb13 via Pixabay

Whale Habitat

16. Given their gargantuan size, you may be wondering where does the Whale live. Interestingly, the answer is just about everywhere! Whale habitat encompasses all of the planet’s oceans, though not necessarily at all times of the year.

17. Whales generally like to spend their summers in cool Antarctica.

18. During the winter, Whale migration patterns move them towards the equator. But they tend to avoid seas that are too warm, because they can easily overheat. This migration to warmer waters also helps with their reproduction cycle.

19. Whale reproduction includes a 10- to 12-month gestation period. Mothers give birth every two to three years, often in the same habitat in which they were impregnated.

20. Whale migration can occur in small groups (called pods), but they’re usually content to travel solo or in pairs. Even when they seem to be traveling alone, scientists who study Whale behavior suggest they’re actually moving in pods miles apart, communicating via calls underwater.

21. Whales usually swim at about five to 12 miles per hour. But when threatened (or inspired by other active ), these behemoths can use those massive flukes to move at up to 30 miles per hour. 

22. The most concentrated Whale habitats in winter are the waters off of Baja California,  deep oceans and are rarely seen close to the shore. Weighing in at over 100,000 tons, how would they get there? These big, blue behemoths really need the space of the open seas.

READ MORE: Whales That Live in Antarctica

“ Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)” by Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Whale Diet

24. Though Whales are known as gentle giants, they’re actually carnivores and apex predators. Simply put, they feed on other animals, and generally travel the oceans without worry of predators attacking them. This makes them vital to well-functioning marine ecosystems.

25. Like all baleen , Whales don’t have any teeth. Instead, they have a system of fringed plates made of keratin (fingernail-like material) that filter out prey rather than tearing it apart. To feed, they take enormous gulps of water, then force the water out through the plates. This process ensnares small marine animals, which they then swallow whole.

26. The Whale diet is mostly made up of Krill– shrimp-like creatures that are very small (about the two inches long). Nevertheless, using this gulp-and-filter technique, Whales are known to consume 4 tons (approximately 40 million krill) a day during peak feeding season.

27. During migration (which can last up to four months), Whales eat very little, instead living off the blubber they’ve acquired during peak feeding season. Despite their massive size, they only have a thin layer of blubber when compared to other . For example, Right Whales–which weigh a mere 100 tons and grow about 60 feet long– are much more blubbery.

28. As mentioned above, baby Whales can gain over 200 pounds a day, averaging out to about 10 pounds an hour. This is accomplished by drinking up to 100 gallons of their mother’s milk (which is 35-50% fat) each day. They’re weaned at about six months, by which time they’re already over 50 feet long. After weaning, young start consuming solid foods and hunting their own prey.

READ MORE: Protecting Whales & Dolphins in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

“Balaenoptera musculus” is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Are Whales Endangered?

29. Given their massive size, you might wonder why Whales are endangered according to the IUCN Red List. The only known Whale predators (which are rarely successful) are pods of hungry Orca. And even these “Killer Whales” rarely prey on anything larger than a baby Whale.

30. Prior to the 20th century, Whale numbers were estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Approximately 95 to 99% of their global population was decimated by unchecked READ MORE: 15 Harmful Traditions & Cultural Practices Tourists Should Avoid

“Balaenoptera musculus (blue whale) 3” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Whale Conservation

34. Whale conservation efforts have been both numerous and largely successful. Most of them have centered around stopping whaling in general, with only a handful of countries remaining among the holdouts. Luckily, Whales are not among the list of cetaceans most likely to be hunted.

35. The International Whale Commission created whaling regulations in 1946 and enacted an all-out ban in 1986, referred to as the commercial whaling moratorium. Whale protection has also been extended under the Species at Risk Act (Canada) and Endangered Species Act (United States), among other initiatives across the globe.

36. Whale protection also comes from a bevy of other Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Save the Whales, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. These NGOs make efforts to prevent whaling, safeguard Whale habitats, reconfigure problematic  shipping routes, and keep the ocean clean. 

READ MORE: Jean-Michel Cousteau on the Future of Marine Conservation

Whale exhale in Sri Lanka by Christopher Michel via flickr & CC & 2.0

Whale Facts

37. Whales are one of the loudest animals in the world. They emit pulses, groans, and moans that can be heard hundreds of miles away. These songs can be used to communicate, navigate, and for mating purposes. At 188 decibels, some of their calls are louder than a jet engine. But, at 15-40 Hz, they are often below our human hearing range.

38. As mammals, Whales require lungs and air to breathe. They inhale and exhale via their blowhole, which is located on top of their massive heads. For deep dives, they can take in enough oxygen to last 90 minutes underwater, but typical dives only last half an hour. When they exhale, the spray that erupts into the air is from water that congregates atop the blowhole while submerged.

39. The Whale’s mouth is extraordinary! Their throats have expandable pleats, and their mouths can open so wide that another whale could actually swim into them. Scientists studying this phenomenon calculated that the Whale’s mouth captured enough food during a truncated 11-minute dive to provide 100 times the energy used to make the dive in the first place. 

40. At the risk of being grotesque, the Whale’s penis is dumbfounding, reaching 8 to 10 feet long. It weighs several hundred pounds, but is hidden inside a genital slit during normal daily activities. Each time they have intercourse, a Whale can ejaculate 30-40 pints of semen, which increases their chances of reproduction and flushes out the sperm of competing males. 

READ MORE: Blackfish Director Gabriela Cowperhwaite Takes on Sea World

Whale Blowhole Photo by NOAA

About Whales

  How many Whales are left in the world?

The numbers are somewhat up for debate, but most NGOs seem to settle somewhere close to 10,000. Pessimistic groups might estimate a population somewhere in the 5,000 to 10,000 range, whereas more optimistic collectives might stretch their Whale numbers up to 25,000.

Despite being by far the largest animals on earth, Whales are notoriously elusive. So it’s very difficult to get an accurate read on theit global population.

That being said, what we do know for sure is that over 350,000 Whales were killed by hunters between 1900 and 1960, prior to the International Whaling Commission putting regulations on the practice. Since then, these gentle giants have rarely died by the harpoon.

What do Whales eat? 

For the most part, Whales eat Krill. Krill are tiny crustaceans that resemble shrimp and are about the size of a human’s pinky finger.

During feeding season, they can consume about 4 tons of Krill a day. They do also consume other sea creatures, including a few other crustaceans, as bycatch to the Krill.

What is the difference between a male and female Whale?

Female Whales are actually the larger of the species, averaging about 32 feet (or 10 meters) longer than males and weighing around 30,000 tons more.

Obviously, they have different sexual organs, but they are otherwise very similar in color, appearance, habitat, and migration.

Female Whales are called cows, while males are called bulls. Baby Whales are called calves.

Are Whales the biggest animal ever?

Whales are the biggest animal currently in existence, including being the longest, largest, and heaviest. They are also the largest known animal to have ever existed. The Finback Whale is nearly as long as its cousin, measuring close to 90 feet long. But it weighs significantly less.

The Right Whale, the planet’s second heaviest animal, can get up to 100 tons, which is about half what the largest Whale can weigh. The largest African Elephant– the world’s biggest living land animal– is about a quarter the length of a Whale, and just one-fortieth the weight.

Due to space and buoyancy, sea-going animals like can grow to be much larger than land animals, which need skeletons that can support their bodies.

Are Whales bigger than dinosaurs?

Whales are bigger than dinosaurs, particularly those puny T-Rexes and other apex carnivores. A few members of the sauropods– herbivorous dinosaurs with long necks– are projected to have possibly been longer than Whales.

Supersaurus and Argentinoasaurus are believed to have been over 100 feet long. However, their dimension projections are based on only a few bones, with nothing even close to an entire skeleton.

Nearly half of their length was in their necks, so Whales are believed to easily weigh twice as much (or more) as these dinosaurs did. In other words, not only are Whales bigger, but they are MUCH larger than even the biggest, fabled dinosaur. —Jonathon Engels