Blue Whale (balaenoperta Musclus) Essay, Research Paper

The blue whale or balaenoperta musclus is the largest animal to ever have

lived on Earth. Whalers have reported this whale to being over 100 feet long and

weighing over 150 tons! The blue whale is a mammal, because it has milk, hair,

and the embryo develops in the mothers womb. The blue whale is a type of baleen

whale. The blue whale eats mostly plankton and crustaceans like krill or

copecods. The blue whale is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The smaller species

of the blue whale, known as the pygmy blue whale, live in the Indian Ocean. The

reason this whales population has dropped so dramatically is because of the

first whaling expeditions. The whalers killed thousands of blue whales, and

their numbers have been rising very slowly since that time period. The estimated

numbers for the blue whale is at about 7,000 through 13,000, which are very low

and make this animal endangered. Whales are now protected throughout the world

by whale laws because their numbers were so low. In 1946 the International Whale

Commissions (IWC) was set up to put guidelines on whaling nations.

Unfortunately, they waited too late for the blue whale because their numbers

were so low. If it wasn’t for the caring people of IWC and other animal rights

activist these gentle animals would probably be extinct. Some interesting facts

about the blue whale is that, their oil was used for perfume, lubrications,

soap, and candy. The blue whale is almost extinct in the northern part of the

Atlantic Ocean. To stop this from happening to any other species of whale, the

United States listed a number of whales that included the blue whale, on

endangered species list.