Talk:Blue whale

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"Caught"/"killed"

Ywaz, you do need to realize that "catch" is the standard terminology used in all wildlife harvesting (which is what whaling is, Japanese pretensions notwithstanding). We don't speak about "killing" fish either. I appreciate that whales elicit a more emotional response, but when our articles on whaling overwhelmingly use "catch", this looks incongruous at the least. --Elmidae (talk · contribs)

Female weight gain of 4% per day mathematically impossible

In the article it states "Pregnant females gain roughly four percent of their body weight daily,[86] amounting to 60% of their overall body weight throughout summer foraging periods."

However, that is clearly not right, as this would mean that female whales approximately triple/quadruple their weight every month. You can see how that would lead to bizarre situations.

I am not aware of what this figure should be or what the author was thinking when writing this. Perhaps they meant eat 4% of body weight.

Reference to the upper size estimates of Perucetus should probably be removed

In the "size" section, among the claims of large shastasaurid ichthyosaurs and some sauropods potentially coming close to the blue whale in size, there is the following claim.

Some studies have estimated that certain shastasaurid ichthyosaurs and the ancient whale Perucetus could have rivalled the blue whale in size, with Perucetus actually being heavier with a mean weight of 180 t (180 long tons; 200 short tons). However, these estimates were based on fragmentary remains, and the proposed size for Perucetus was disputed by studies in 2024.

Considering that Perucetus is known from fairly complete remains and reliable estimates of its size are way far from the initial claim that it was comparable to the blue whale, there is no reason in propagating this claim any further, even in the context of putting it into question. There is little to no merit in those estimates anyway. ~2025-31983-94 (talk) 14:19, 9 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion: Add new content

While researching information about blue whales, I found articles in scholarly sources (books written by experts, peer-reviewed papers, etc.) that seemed like they could be added. However, I'm wondering if these new findings are worthy of inclusion in this article, given the reliable sources supporting the changes?

Description

A blue whale with its bow wave, showing the blowholes

The blue whale is a slender-bodied cetacean with a broad U-shaped head; thin, elongated flippers; a small sickle-shaped dorsal fin located close to the tail, and a large tail stock at the root of the wide and thin flukes. The upper jaw is lined with 70–395 black baleen plates. The throat region has 60–88 grooves which allows the skin to expand during feeding. There are four hairs on the upper lip and about 40 hairs on the lower lip.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It has two blowholes that can squirt 9.1–12.2 meters (30–40 ft) up in the air.[1][3][4] The skin has a mottled grayish-blue coloration, appearing blue underwater.[2][3][4] The mottling patterns near the dorsal fin vary between individuals.[7][8][9] The underbelly has lighter pigmentation and can appear yellowish due to diatoms in the water,[2][3][4] which historically earned them the nickname "sulphur bottom".[10][11]

Size

Photograph of a blue whale skull
A blue whale skull measuring 5.8 meters (19 ft)

The blue whale is the largest animal known ever to have existed.[12][13][14] Some studies have estimated that certain shastasaurid ichthyosaurs and the ancient whale Perucetus could have rivalled the blue whale in size, with Perucetus actually being heavier with a mean weight of 180 t (180 long tons; 200 short tons).[15][16] However, these estimates were based on fragmentary remains, and the proposed size for Perucetus was disputed by studies in 2024.[17] Other studies estimate that, on land, large sauropods like Bruhathkayosaurus (mean weight: 110–170 tons) and Maraapunisaurus (mean weight: 80–120 tons) might have rivalled the blue whale, with the former even exceeding the blue whale based on its most liberal estimates (240 tons). However, these estimates were based on even more fragmentary specimens that had disintegrated by the time estimates could be made.[18]

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) whaling database reports 88 individuals longer than 30 meters (98 ft), including one of 33.58 meters (110.2 ft).[19] The Discovery Committee reported lengths up to 31 meters (102 ft).[20] The longest scientifically measured individual blue whale was 29.9–30.5 meters (98–100 ft) from rostrum tip to tail notch.[21][22][19][23] Female blue whales are larger than males.[3][24] Hydrodynamic models suggest a blue whale could not exceed 33 metres (108 ft) because of metabolic and energy constraints.[25] The existence of blue whales exceeding 30.5 meters (100 ft) in length has been questioned.[19][23]

The average length of sexually mature female blue whales is 22.0 meters (72.1 ft) for Eastern North Pacific blue whales, 24 meters (79 ft) for central and western North Pacific blue whales, 21–24 meters (68–78 ft) for North Atlantic blue whales, 25.4–26.3 meters (83.4–86.3 ft) for Antarctic blue whales, 23.5 meters (77.1 ft) for Chilean blue whales, and 21.3 meters (69.9 ft) for pygmy blue whales.[19][26][27] Length measurements of blue whales in the Gulf of California suggest a mean length of 20.49 meters (67.2 ft) and a maximum length of 29.01 meters (95.2 ft), which is comparable to Northeast Pacific blue whales.[28]

The average weight of an adult blue whale is between 72–135 metric tons (159,000–298,000 lb).[29] in the Northern Hemisphere, males weigh an average 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) and females 112 metric tons (247,000 lb). Eastern North Pacific blue whale males average 88.5 tonnes (195,000 lb) and females 100 tonnes (220,000 lb). Antarctic males average 112 tonnes (247,000 lb) and females 130 tonnes (290,000 lb). Pygmy blue whale males average 83.5 tonnes (184,000 lb) to 99 tonnes (218,000 lb).[30] The weight of the heart of a stranded North Atlantic blue whale was 180 kg (400 lb), the largest known in any animal.[31] The blue whale's jaws could reach 7 meters (23 ft) in length and weigh 2,117 kg (4,667 lb), making it the largest jawed animal ever recorded.[32] The blue whale's skull was 5.79 meters (19.0 ft) long, the pygmy blue whale's skull was 4.86 meters (15.9 ft), and the ribs had a maximum straight length of 2.625 meters (8 ft 7.3 in).[33] The brain of a blue whale, which weighed 50.9 tonnes (112,000 lb), weighed about 3.6 kg (7.9 lb).[6] The record-holder blue whale was caught in the Southern Ocean on March 20, 1947, and was recorded as measuring 27.6 meters (91 ft) long and weighing 190 tonnes (210 short tons),[23][34][30] with estimates of up to 199 tonnes (220 short tons).[19]

In 2024, Motani and Pyenson calculated the body mass of blue whales at different lengths, compiling records of their sizes from previous academic literatures and using regression analyses and volumetric analyses. A 25 metres (82 ft) long individual was estimated to weigh approximately 101–119 tonnes (111–131 short tons), while a 30 metres (98 ft) long individual was estimated to weigh approximately 184–205 tonnes (203–226 short tons). Considering that the largest blue whale was indeed 33 metres (108 ft) long, they estimated that a blue whale of such length would have weighed approximately 252–273 tonnes (278–301 short tons).[17] In 2025, Paul and Larramendi estimated that blue whales could exceed 200 tonnes (220 short tons), but likely not by as much as Motani and Pyenson documented.[23]

During the harvest of a female blue whale, Messrs. Irvin and Johnson collected a fetus that is now 70% preserved and used for educational purposes. The fetus was collected in 1922, so some shrinkage may have occurred, making visualization of some features fairly difficult. However, due to this collection researchers now know that the external anatomy of a blue whale fetus is approximately 133 mm. Along with during the developmental phases, the fetus is located where the embryonic and fetal phases converge. This fetus is the youngest gestational age of the specimen recorded.[35]

The male blue whale has the largest penis in the animal kingdom, at around 1.83–3 m (6.0–9.8 ft) long and 12 in (30 cm) wide.[36][6] Koo-1876 (talk) 10:19, 25 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I only see the size of the brain as potentially important. Overwise, the information is granular. This is an old FA that was revised a couple of years ago and doesn't need constant adding. LittleJerry (talk) 20:04, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I'll edit only the part about brain size that LittleJerry thinks is important, and review the rest later. Koo-1876 (talk) 13:07, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
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  2. ^ a b c Calambokidis, J.; Steiger, G. H. (1997). Blue Whales. McGregor, MN: Voyager Press. p. 72.
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  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jefferson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  34. ^ "Largest mammal". Archived from the original on 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  35. ^ Roston, Rachel A. (2013). "Anatomy and Age Estimation of an Early Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) Fetus". The Anatomical Record. 296 (4): 709–722. doi:10.1002/ar.22678. PMID 23447333.
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allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Blue_whale