Blue+Whale+-+Alibhai

__** Blue Whale **__

__**Classification**__
Kingdom: Anamalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Family: Balaenopteridae Genus: Balaenoptera Species: //B. musculus//

**__Growth and Development__** Blue whales can grow 80-100 feet long. Because of that, they are the largest animals on earth. They normally weigh about 120 tons. It takes them 6-15 years to become an adult.

__Reproduction__
Blue whales' gestation is usually for 11 or 12 months. They normally only have one baby (called "calf") at a time, but they can have two. It is very rare to have two babies at a time.

__Adaptions__
Blue whales have three main adaptions. First, they have a very smooth body. That makes it hard for parasites to attach themselves to a blue whale's body. Also, they are very loud. Humans' shouting can go up to 70 decibels, while whales' can go up to 140 decibels. That is louder than a jet engine's. This is good because they can talk to each other even if they are very far away. Last, they are very big and very fast. Because of that, they couldn't be hunted in 1868 when the harpoon gun was invented.

**__Movement__** Blue whales normally swim about 3-30 miles per hour.

**__Metabolism__** Blue whales are carnivores and filter feeders. That means that they filter food out of the water. They eat crustaceans, plankton, and small fish. They usually eat 2,000 to 9,000 pounds of food every day.

**__Males/Females__** The female blue whales are normally bigger than the males.

**__Family: Balaenopteridae__**  Blue whales are in the family Balaenopteridae. Other animals in the family are the humpback whale, the fin whale, the sei whale, and the minke whale. All of the animals in the family have "folds" of skin on their body. Also, they all have fins, They can all be found in all of the oceans except for the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Most live in "pods," or groups.



**__Growth and Development__** Blue whales can grow 80-100 feet long. Because of that, they are the largest animals on earth. They normally weigh about 120 tons. It takes them 6-15 years to become an adult.

**__Sources__**

 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []