The Zoospecies · habitats · children's zoo · care

Catalog · Mammalia · Artiodactyla · Balaenopteridae · Sea lab

Zoology of the ZooPl. XCI

Blue whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Mammalia · Artiodactyla · Balaenopteridae

Fig. 1. Blue whale

Fig. 2. Range

Length or height	Up to about 30 m
Weight	Up to about 150,000 kg or more
Food	Krill
Lifespan	About 80-90 years
Society	Mostly solitary or pairs
Habitat	open ocean
Range	World oceans
Wild or tame	Wild

The largest animal ever known.

Modern data

Status today

ENEndangered status to verify

Conservation	Endangered; recovering slowly since whaling ended.
Keeper's note	Daily checks of appetite, movement and behavior; enrichment that changes from day to day.
Kingdom · phylum	Animalia · Chordata
Genus	Balaenoptera

Check the record: IUCN Red List · GBIF · ITIS

QR code KKK01V

Picture gallery

Tap a picture to enlarge it. Every picture is public domain or openly licensed, credited below, and kept on our own server.

Blow of a blue whale in the Arctic sea — AWeith · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Beaty Blue Whale 1 — Xicotencatl · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Balaenoptera musculus NOAA — NOAA United States. National Marine Fisheries Service · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Balaenoptera musculus, blue whale MV skull — Museums Victoria Unknown photographer · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Balaenoptera musculus, blue whale MV baleen — Museums Victoria Unknown photographer · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Balaenoptera musculus, blue whale MV skeleton — Museums Victoria Unknown photographer · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Blue whale tail fluke — Shulman at English Wikipedia · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Blue Whale 001 body bw — NOAA Fisheries (TBjornstad 11:17, 18 April 2007 (UTC)) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Same order: Artiodactyla

Addax

Addax nasomaculatus

CRCritically endangered

African buffalo

Syncerus caffer

NTNear threatened

American bison

NTNear threatened

Arabian oryx