If you did not know, then it is time to educate you about the largest living mammal found on earth. This mammal is the huge and massive blue whale. Scientifically known as Balaenoptera musculus, this baleen whale perhaps is the biggest animal ever to inhabit earth. Here are some fascinating blue whale facts that you will enjoy reading and knowing.

The blue whale has a slender and long body, which is tapering at the ends. The dorsal part has a bluish-green color, and the ventral part is lighter in color. The skin is mottled and when seen underwater, but it appears a beautiful blue, and hence, its name. However, the body of the blue whale appears to change color from bluish-green to yellowish-green during its migration to the different oceans. This is believed to be because of the growth of diatoms, which tend to attach themselves onto the underbelly of the whale as it swims in the water to reach the North Pacific Ocean and Antarctic Ocean.

The whale breathes with the help of blowholes located on top of the head. It has two such blowholes, which have a muscular flap to close it when the whale submerges itself in the water.

The blue whale's head is shaped like the letter U and is flat. It has a ridge that runs along the upper lip all the way to the blowhole. The head is extremely large, and is nearly 1/4th the length of the whale's body. This whale is a filter feeder, and uses the baleen plates in its mouth to filter food from the surrounding water. In addition, the blue whale has many ventral pleats in its mouth that allow it to expand its throat and swallow large amounts of food. The whale has small dorsal fins located near the tail flukes and its flippers are tapering. The tail flukes are broad and appear like triangles. The blue whale can survive in frigid waters due to a thick layer of blubber under the skin that protects it from the cold.

The most fascinating aspect of the blue whale is its size. The longest whales recorded till date were 2 females measuring between 109 and 110 feet. It is believed that this species can grow as long as 98 feet and can weigh over 200 tons. In the southern hemisphere, these whales are longer, measuring between ninety and hundred feet, while in the northern hemisphere, the whales are estimated to be between 75 and 80 feet. It has also been seen that females are larger in size compared to the males.

The blue whale used to be visible in practically all the oceans of the world. However, at the moment it is restricted to the temperate and cold oceans of the Arctic and Antarctica. They tend to live in deep waters and rarely venture to shallow coastal waters. However, in winter, blue whales migrate from the colder waters to warmer waters to breed and have calves.

For its big size, the diet of the blue whale is really amazing. It lives mainly on krill, but also feeds on small fish and planktons. It is believed that in a single day, an adult blue whale can eat as much as 40 million krills.

According to researchers, blue whales become sexually mature between the ages of six and ten, when the male becomes about seventy-four feet long and the female seventy-nine feet. The female has a gestation period of around ten to twelve months and usually a female has a calf every two to three years. The calf is between 23 and 27 feet when it is born and weighs around three tons. As blue whales are mammals, they nurse their young ones.

When a blue whale dives into deep water, it can stay there for ten to twenty minutes. While the bulk of this mammal is so huge, it has a comparatively small heart. Another interesting fact about the blue whale is the dimension of its tongue. The tongue is so huge that it has the ability to allow fifty people to stand on it.

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