BLUE WHALE

The Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever existed on Earth — larger than any dinosaur, larger than any whale that came before. A tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant. A heart the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. And yet, these ocean giants almost vanished in a single century of industrial whaling.

Before commercial whaling, perhaps 300,000 blue whales roamed the world's oceans. By the 1960s, fewer than 5,000 remained. The numbers have slowly recovered since whaling was banned in 1966, but current estimates of 15,000-20,000 represent only 3-11% of the pre-whaling population.

Blue whales are still recovering — but the ocean they're recovering into is changing. Climate change is shifting the distributions of krill, their primary food. Shipping noise drowns out the low-frequency songs blue whales use to communicate across hundreds of miles.