A Tale Of A Whale - Blue Whale Facts.

Known as the largest animal living or extinct, the little we do know about the blue whale is absolutely fascinating.

Here's a few facts about this massive behemoth:

1.) Difficult to weigh due to their size, it has been estimated that a blue whale averages eighty to a hundred feet and weighs as much as 134 tons - Says the book Whales, by E. J. Slijper, that weight is equivalent to four brontosaurs or 30 elephants, or 200 cows, or 1,600 men!

2.) A newborn blue whale calf can be over twenty feet long and weigh about 2.8 tons! In addition, they will consume 100-150 gallons of milk a day.

3.) An adult blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in a day. In addition to krill, they also feed on a small group of crustaceans.

4.) A blue whale is not a fish, but a warm-blooded mammal. It breathes air, suckles its young and even has some of the eternal hairs that are characteristic of mammals.

5.) The only time a blue whale breaks the water's surface, is to exhale a blast of steamy breath - known as the blow - and to inhale more air.

6.) Unlike other marine mammals, the blue whale (other whales included) cannot lounge around shorelines.

Even temporarily beaching of whales mean certain death. Without water to support such a massive bulk, their ribs collapse and death occurs due to suffocation.

7.) The call of the blue whale is said to travel 2,000 miles [3,000 km] underwater.

8.) The tongue of a one-hundred-foot blue whale can easily weigh 6,600 pounds.

9.) As of 1997, it was found that the North Atlantic is home to a sizable blue whale populating,

In addition, a small concentration - at least two groups - (approximately 2,000) have been found in each of the North-East Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean and at least two groups in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sadly, blue whales were hunted almost to the brink of extinction. As a direct results, blue whale hunting has been strictly regulated since 1946, giving this fascinating creature a brighter and more reassuring future.