Blue Whale- Heidi Kovalevsky

THE BLUE WHALE

(Balaenoptera musculus)

Heidi Kovalevsky

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Description and Ecology 

     Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, growing up to 105 feet long, and weighing up to 200 tons (National Geographic Society). To put that in perspective, one blue whale weighs as much as forty elephants, and one elephant weighs the same amount as the tongue of one blue whale (National Geographic Society). They are a blue-grey color with creamy, yellow underbellies colored as such due to colonies of cold water diatoms that reside on the whales stomachs (The Marine Mammal Center). Blue Whales are carnivorous and feed on krill with baleen containing around 800 plates, making them part of a family of whales known as rorqual whales (The Marine Mammal Center). In the course of a single day, one whale may eat as much as four tons of krill (National Geographic Society).

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/blue-whale/

Geographic Populations

     Blue whales have a very wide geographic distribution, and have been spotted roaming oceans all over the world. They do not swim in polar regions, and are rarely found close to the coasts, but their geographic locations have not changed over time. They often travel in small pods, in pairs, or even individually (The Marine Mammal Center). Locally, about 2000 blue whales are estimated to live off of the Californian coast (The Marine Mammal Center). There are currently three different subspecies of blue whale; these include a northern hemisphere variety known as Balaenoptera musculus musculus, a large Antarctic variety called Balaenoptera musculus intermedia, and the smallest variation residing in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and southern Indian Ocean, Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda (Reeves, Randall R.).

https://sites.google.com/site/bluewhaledf2013/endangered-species

Listing

     Being such wide ranging animals, these whales joined protected groups at different times for different locations around the world. In 1939, blue whales first became protected species in the southern hemisphere in order to help protect them against whaling (Reeves, Randall R.). The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling granted blue whales protection in the North Atlantic in 1955, the Antarctic in 1965, and the North Pacific in 1966 (Reeves, Randall R.). Since 1998, Blue Whales have been listed as endangered species with the newest recovery plan set into action (Reeves, Randall R.). 

Threats 

    Historically, the main reason for the decrease in blue whale population has been human hunters. Whalers around the world have valued the blue whale due to its immense quantities of blubber for lighting, meat for consumption, and baleen for construction. Today, the illegal killing of blue whales is seldom but whales still do become victims of collisions with ships and are affected by pollution (Reeves, Randall R.). 

Recovery Plan

     The current recovery plan created by the Office of Protected Resources in the National Marine Fisheries Service aims to remove blue whales from the endangered species list by completing a series of eight steps currently in process (Reeves, Randall R.). These steps include: determining biological stock, monitoring size and trends of populations, identifying and protecting whale habitat, eliminating injuries from humans, minimizing whale interactions with ships, acquiring data from dead and stranded whales, coordinate efforts internationally, and structuring criteria to delist the blue whale (Reeves, Randall R.).

How Can You Help?

     As an individual, you can help the blue whale by making society more aware of the issue. By spreading public awareness, more people may feel obliged to do their part to keeping our oceans clean to protect the habitats of animals such as the endangered blue whale. In addition, you can advocate for or donate to sites such as Sea Shepherd Legal at http://seashepherdlegal.org/focus-areas.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAperBBRDfuMf72sr56fIBEiQAPFXszQS7Ifx0-bRSW8vsbktkhnw8lkw7MgleFufciZGex6EaApv18P8HAQ that advocate for the rights of blue whales by standing up for them legally regarding inadequate species protection, illegal whaling, damaging coastal development, noise pollution, ocean pollution, climate change, and more.

Other Resources

     To find out more information about the blue whale and how to help it, you can go to the sites provided as resources below. Or if you are looking for other blogs regarding blue whales you might visit:

• The Unorthodox Whale at http://ashadevos.com/
• Blue Whale Endangered at http://endangeredbluewhale.blogspot.com/ or
• Blue Whales on the Move at https://blog.nhm.ac.uk/tag/blue-whale/

Works Cited

"Endangered Species - Blue Whale Balaenoptera Musculus." Google Sites Images. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Nov. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/site/bluewhaledf2013/endangered-species>.

Guardianlv.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016. <https://i2.wp.com/guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/blue-whale.jpg?resize=600%2C317>.

Reeves, Randall R., Phillip J. Clapham, Robert L. Brownell, and Gregory K. Silber. "RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE BLUE WHALE." (n.d.): n. pag. Http://ecos.fws.gov/. Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service, July 1998. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Society, National Geographic. "Blue Whales, Blue Whale Pictures, Blue Whale Facts - National Geographic." NationalGeographic.com. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

"The Marine Mammal Center." The Marine Mammal Center. Ke Kai Ola, 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.