NATURE: THE BLUE WHALE

The Blue Whale

                             Credit: NOAA Photo Library (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale)

First and foremost, let me state that a whale is not a fish, but a mammal (belonging to the class Mammalia) just like human beings. There are different kinds of whales: Mysticeti and Odontoceti. The Odontoceti have teeth which they naturally use in feeding while the Mysticeti possess baleen plates, situated in their upper jaws, which they use to filter food. For this reason they are also termed Baleen Whales.

Blue whales are baleen whales. These majestic creatures typically  grow to a length of 25 metres (80 feet) and weight of 109 tonnes. A female whale of  29 metres (94 feet) and weight of 158 tonnes - that's about the size of a  Boeing 737 aeroplane - was once found, making her the largest specimen of not only blue whales, but whales in general, as blue whales are the largest whales on Earth. Whales are also the largest animals that ever existed, thus the 29 metres makes this specimen arguably the largest animal that has ever existed.

The size of a blue whale compared to that of man
Source: Kurzon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale)

19 metre blue whale skull and man

Credit : Sklmsta~commonswiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale)

For more on the blue whale, visit http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Bluewhale.shtml , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale.