Did you know?

• They are twice the size of the biggest dinosaur, a Volkswagen Beetle-sized heart. Even their babies are seven meters long and weigh the same as an adult African elephant.
• They are the loudest animals on the planet; their calls reach 188 dB, even louder than a jet engine that hits 140 dB.
• These whales consume a relatively limited diet and will go without food for up to 4 months during migration, living off the stored fat collected during feeding season.
• Water provides buoyancy, allowing them to grow enormously large, with no strong skeletal framework or muscular limbs.
• Blue whales were once abundant throughout the Gulf of Alaska, but none have been spotted there in post-whaling era studies.
• Conservation groups have urged for one of the world’s busiest shipping routes to be rerouted to safeguard an endangered blue whale colony. Increased shipping traffic around Sri Lanka’s southern tip endangers the world’s largest animal. The Wales habitat overlaps a key shipping channel connecting East Asia to the Swiss Canal. This exposes the colony to ship strikes and noise pollution. Marine researchers now believe that a minor change in the shipping lane could have a significant impact on the conservation of the blue whale colony. A 15 nautical mile southward deviation from the current route reduces collision risk by 95%.
• The age of a whale can be estimated via wax-like earplugs, just as growth rings in trees. 8. Approximately 360,000 blue whales were killed between 1900 and to mid-1960s.