An Adult Can Swim Through The Veins Of A Blue Whale Graphic © todaysfunfact.com. Background photo: Wikipedia (PD)
Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) are gigantic! It’s common knowledge that they are the largest animal on earth. But most people don’t really realize the true scale of their size. You could probably fit inside one of its veins.
How Big is a Blue Whale, Really?
Let’s put it this way: A blue is the gold standard for size in the history of the animal kingdom. At a weight of up to 200 tons and a length of up to 100 feet, blue whales far eclipse any animal to have ever walked (or swam) the face of the earth. Including the biggest dinosaurs. Putting this into perspective:
• The blood vessels of the majestic sea creature are wide enough to fit a human. As unsettling as it sounds, it’s actually possible to swim through the vein of a blue whale.
• Blood has to be pumped into the entire body of this gargantuan animal. For this, the blue whale has a mind-boggling 2000-pound heart (the size of a Mini car) that pumps around 220 liters of blood. The heartbeats are so powerful that sonar equipment can pick them up 3 kilometers away.
• The elephant may be the largest land animal, but it’s only comparable to the tongue of a blue whale. Feel small yet?
• Baby blue whales are fast growers. They put on nearly 200 pounds every DAY in their few months. This rapid growth is fueled by their mother’s rich, fatty milk.
Ironically, the massive size of blue whales is maintained by an exclusive diet of tiny animals called krill. And as you can guess, it has to chow these down in masses. A single adult can feed on 4 tons of krill daily.
The sad part is that blue whales are classified as endangered species, with their wild populations dwindling to a couple thousand. They have an average lifespan of 80-90 years as determined by counting the layers of their wax-like earplugs—similar to how we can tell the age of a tree from its rings.