Where are the eyes on a blue whale?
Where are the eyes on a blue whale? Whale EyeSizesHer eyesare set about 8 feet away from top of her jawline. A blue whale's eyesare bigger, at about 6 inches across. 39 Related Question Answers Found
Do whales have eyes?
The eyes of a whale are relatively small compared to the rest of its body. Their eyes are well adapted to aquatic life and secrete an oil used to lubricate and protect their eyes from debris and other chemicals in the ocean. While it is possible to secrete oil, whales cannot secrete tears, but their cries can often be heard from many miles away.
Do blue blue whales have eyelashes?
Blue whales have relatively small eyes for their body size – each about the size of a grapefruit – and their eyesight is thought to be weak. They have no tear glands or eyelashes. Click to see full answer.
What are the characteristics of a blue whale?
A blue whale has between 80 and 100 long grooves running along the length of its throat and chest. Blue whales can dive for up to an hour at a time, going to a depth of 100m, so they need highly efficient lungs to survive. Two enormous blowholes, big enough for a small child to crawl into, allow the fast and efficient exchange of oxygen.
How does a blue whale See?
“Whales only have one cone, which is sensitive to green light, so they see in black and white in light and dark,” Fasick said. They have one cone and one rod, both of which are sensitive to light in the blue/green range of the color spectrum. “They match their cones and rods to the color of the water.
How big is a blue whale's eyeball?
How Big is a Blue Whale's Eye? The one thing about blue whale's that's actually kind of small is their eyes. A blue whale's eye is about the size of a small grapefruit or a softball. This might seem pretty big compared to our own eyes, which are the size of a cherry.
Where are blue whales eyes?
Whale eyes are located on the sides of their heads. This is roughly the opposite of our own visual system.
Do blue whales have good vision?
While whales have adapted superbly well to their ocean environment, their eyesight is quite poor compared to humans and many other terrestrial mammals.
How do whales sleep?
Observations of bottlenose dolphins in aquariums and zoos, and of whales and dolphins in the wild, show two basic methods of sleeping: they either rest quietly in the water, vertically or horizontally, or sleep while swimming slowly next to another animal.
How do whales see humans?
Indeed, whales see the world in shades of grey! They can distinguish light from dark, but, like humans who are colour blind, they cannot tell the difference between red and green on a traffic light. Indeed, the eyes of cetaceans are monochromatic.
Is a blue whale's heart?
A mighty heart for a mighty creature The whale's heart is about 5 feet in length, 4 feet in width and 5 feet in height, and can weigh as much as 175 kilograms, which is the same as some cars. A blue whale's heartbeat is so loud that it can be heard from almost 2 miles away.
How long can whales hold their breath?
The longest ever recorded dive by a whale was made by a Cuvier's beaked whale. It lasted 222 minutes and broke the record for diving mammals. Other whales can also hold their breath for a very long time. A sperm whale can spend around 90 minutes hunting underwater before it has to come back to the surface to breathe.
Why are whales friendly to humans?
1:134:46Are Whales Friendly To Humans? (Explained) - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIn such cases humans are generally. So small that whales do not feel any threat towards them asideMoreIn such cases humans are generally. So small that whales do not feel any threat towards them aside from this it is also important to point out that humans are too large for whales to consume.
Can blue whales smell?
The whales' sense of smell was revealed when scientists dissected their bodies and found olfactory hardware linking the brain and nose, and functional protein receptors required to smell. Previously, whales and dolphins were thought to lack the ability. Details are published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
Do whales like being pet?
"Whales don't have teeth like humans do. They have baleen," he explained. "But we do know they seem to enjoy being touched in the mouth. They initiate that and open their mouths for you."
What animal has the biggest eye?
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain, and is the largest eye of any living land animal, measuring five centimetres across.
What does a blue whale look like?
A blue whale’s skin markings are unique, much like fingerprints. The pale bluish-grey colour gives the species its name, although the skin can also look silvery grey or tan, depending on the light. A blue whale has between 80 and 100 long grooves running along the length of its throat and chest.
How do blue whales hear?
Ears. Despite having no external ears, blue whales are believed to have excellent hearing, using air sinuses and bones to detect sound. They communicate using low-frequency whistles or rumbling noises which can travel hundreds of kilometres and reach 188 decibels – louder than a passenger jet.
How old are blue whales when they reproduce?
Reproduction. Blue whales reach sexual maturity between five and 10 years of age. They seek warmer equatorial waters before embarking on an elaborate mating ritual that involves the male and female rolling over one another, diving in a deep dive, then suddenly swimming to the surface for copulating.
How long can a blue whale dive?
Blue whales can dive for up to an hour at a time, going to a depth of 100m, so they need highly efficient lungs to survive. Two enormous blowholes, big enough for a small child to crawl into, allow the fast and efficient exchange of oxygen.
What is the name of the whale that lived 37 million years ago?
This eventually resulted in a completely aquatic creature called Dorudon, which lived 37 million years ago and grew 4.5m long. In Dorudon, we see the beginnings of what makes whales so special.
How much blood does a blue whale pump?
Weighing some 900kg – and the size of a Mini car – the blue whale’s heart beats once every 10 seconds, pumping 220 litres of blood through its body, and beats so loudly it can be heard from 3km away through sonar equipment.
What is the largest animal in the world?
The blue whale is the largest known animal to have ever lived, far bigger than any of the dinosaurs. An adult blue whale can grow to about 30m long and weigh more than 180,000kg, equivalent to around 40 elephants, 30 Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs, or about 2,670 average-sized men. YouTube. BBC Studios. 3.18M subscribers.
What color are blue whales?
Blue whales have long, slender mottled grayish-blue bodies, although they appear blue underwater. The mottling pattern is highly variable. Individuals have a unique pigmentation pattern along the back in the region of the dorsal fin which can be used for the purpose of identification.
How big is a blue whale?
The blue whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale parvorder Mysticeti. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 metres (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have existed.
How to tell a blue whale's age?
A blue whale's age is most reliably measured using ear plugs. Blue whales secrete earwax (cerumen) throughout their lives, forming long, multilayered plugs. Each deposited light and dark layer (lamina) indicates a switch between fasting during migration and feeding. As one set is laid down per year, the number of layers is an indicator of age. The maximum age of a pygmy blue whale determined this way is 73 years. Before the ear plug aging method, layers in baleen plates were used, however, these wear down and are not as reliable. The blue whale's ovaries form a permanent record of the number of ovulations (or perhaps pregnancies), in the form of corpora albicantia —fibrous masses that are permanent scars and were once used as an indication of age. In a female pygmy blue whale, one corpus albicans is formed on average every 2.6 years.
What are the populations of pygmy blue whales?
brevicauda, has three populations corresponding with acoustic populations, including a Madagascar population, an Eastern Australia / New Zealand population, and Western Australia/Indonesia population. Although the Western Australia/Indonesia population and the Eastern Australia/New Zealand population are morphologically similar and not genetically separated, there are no photograph-identification matches between the two populations, and mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies suggest a high degree of genetic isolation of the New Zealand population. An acoustic boundary between the Western Australia/Indonesia population and the Eastern Australia/New Zealand population has been identified as the junction of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Why are blue whales so hard to hunt?
Blue whales were initially difficult to hunt because of their size and speed. Large-scale takes did not begin until 1864, when the Norwegian Svend Foyn invented the exploding harpoon gun which could be used on steam and diesel-powered ships. Blue whale takes peaked in 1931 when over 29,000 blue whales were killed. The International Whaling Commission banned all hunting of blue whales in 1966 and gave them worldwide protection. However, the Soviet Union continued to illegally hunt blue whales in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere through to 1973, and the last catch was taken by a Spanish expedition in 1978.
How many Hz does a blue whale have?
The fundamental frequency for blue whale vocalizations ranges from 8 to 25 Hz and the production of vocalizations may vary by region, season, behavior, and time of day.
Why are blue whales so low in the food chain?
However, because blue whales feed low on the food chain, there is a lesser chance for bioaccumulation of organic chemical contaminants. Analysis of the earwax of a male blue whale killed by a collision with a ship off the coast of California showed contaminants like pesticides, flame retardants, and mercury.
What color are blue whales?
Blue whales look true blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Their underbellies take on a yellowish hue from the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes.
What is a blue whale?
Blue whales are baleen whales, which means they have fringed plates of fingernail-like material, called baleen, attached to their upper jaws. The giant animals feed by first gulping an enormous mouthful of water, expanding the pleated skin on their throat and belly to take it in.
What is the largest animal in the world?
Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever existed. Learn why they're larger than any land animal and why they were hunted for years. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
How many blue whales were killed in the 1900s?
Aggressive hunting in the 1900s by whalers seeking whale oil drove them to the brink of extinction. Between 1900 and the mid-1960s, some 360,000 blue whales were slaughtered. They finally came under protection with the 1966 International Whaling Commission, but they've managed only a minor recovery since then.
How far can a blue whale hear?
They emit a series of pulses, groans, and moans, and it’s thought that, in good conditions, blue whales can hear each other up to 1,000 miles away.
How much does a baby blue whale weigh?
After about a year inside its mother's womb, a baby blue whale emerges weighing up to 3 tons and stretching to 25 feet. It gorges on nothing but mother's milk and gains about 200 pounds every day for its first year.
How big are blue whales?
These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet long and upwards of 200 tons. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile.
Do whales sleep?
Observations of bottlenose dolphins in aquariums and zoos, and of whales and dolphins in the wild, show two basic methods of sleeping: they either rest quietly in the water, vertically or horizontally, or sleep while swimming slowly next to another animal.
Where do blue whales hang out?
The blue whale is found alone or in small groups in all oceans, but populations in the Southern Hemisphere are much larger. In the Northern Hemisphere, blue whales can be seen regularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the coasts of Monterey, California, and Baja California, Mexico.
What does blue whale look like?
The blue whale is an extremely large marine mammal, with a long, torpedo-shaped body. They have blue-gray colored skin, with a slightly lighter colored underside; they have two pectoral fins, a small dorsal fin on their backs, and a large fluke.
What whale look like?
Baleen look like long thin teeth placed very close to one another. They are used to catch small animals swimming in the water, which the whale eats. Color: Blue whales are blue-gray in color with white patches covering their body. Fins: A small triangular-shaped dorsal fin is located on the blue whale's back.
What do you name a whale?
The best whale names are for a distinct mark on the underside of its tail or other part of its body. Good examples are Salt (white dorsal fin) and Colt (mark that looks like a gun). 2. The name should not reflect a gender, meaning a female or male (a girl or boy's) name.
What colors are dolphins?
Most dolphins are either gray (like bottlenose dolphins) or black and white (like orcas) with a light underside. An exception is the Amazon river dolphin, which is often pink.
How do whales show affection?
They are the touchy-feelies of the deep, with a capacity to experience love and attachment, thanks to some tiny cells, new research shows. We know that they sing, sending musical waves through the deep as they travel in complex family units. And now we know that the great whales of the world are capable of loving.
What is the difference between a whale's ears and a dolphin's ears?
For a whale/dolphin, there is little difference between the inner and outer ear areas.
How big do whales get?
Note: Whales can vary greatly in terms of weights and size. The dwarf sperm whale, for example, only grows to a length of about 9 ft. and weighs up to 600 pounds, while the blue whale can grow to over 98 ft. and weigh up to 150 tons!
What are the two suborders of whales?
Two primary whale suborders are divided based on their physical characteristics. The first of these two suborders are the toothed whale suborder. Toothed whales are typically smaller than their baleen whale cousins and have a single blowhole on their heads compared to the two blowholes found on a baleen whale.
Why do whales have a blowhole?
Unlike other sea creatures such as fish which use gills to extract oxygen from the water, whales must come to the surface to breathe as they possess lungs and a blowhole rather than gills. The blowhole is situated on or near the top of their head and acts as an airway passage for breathing.
How do whales use their flippers?
These marine mammals use their flippers to perform various aquatic acrobatics such as steering left and right by changing their flippers’ angle and using their flippers to provide lift so they can rise in the water control their level of aquatic depth. The flippers are controlled by strong pectoral muscles and can vary in size with each species.
What is the difference between a whale and a fish?
Another major difference between whales and fish is that whales breathe air and rise to the water’s surface to obtain oxygen while fish extract oxygen directly from the water.
How do baleen whales capture their prey?
To capture their prey, baleen whales swim towards their prey with their mouth open and use their baleen as a net to capture as much prey as possible. They then push the water out of their mouth and swallow their food whole.
Where are whale eyes located?
Whale eyes are located on the sides of their heads. This is roughly the opposite of our own visual system. We have two eyes facing forward with a ton of visual field overlap.
How far does Austin have to get from the whales?
The consequences of that decision are startling: Austin has to get within ten feet of the whales, and he has to take many photographs from that distance in order to get enough photographs to stitch together the life-size portrait. In practice, that brought him eye-to-eye with these multi-ton animals time and again.
What is it called when an animal popped its head out of the water?
As he was standing on the deck, one of the animals went vertical and popped its head out of the water, which is called "spyhopping.". The animal looked directly at Austin, and looking back, he saw a distinctive marking: it was Ella.
What colors can we distinguish?
We can distinguish big chunks of the colors in the green, red, and blue parts of the spectrum. It's not nearly as impressive as some visual systems, which can detect other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, but when it comes to mammals, humans and some other primates are living the technicolor dream.
Can you see blue with blue and red with red?
Color vision is trickier than it seems at first. It's not that we see blue with blue photoreceptors and red with red photoreceptors. "What provides the sensation of color is our ability to compare how much light each receptor class collects," Duke's Sonke Johnsen, author of the book Optics for Biologists, told me.
Do whales have sharp eyes?
Whales, like other mammals, are trying to balance the sharpness of their eyes with their sensitivity. Sharp vision requires lots and lots of individual photoreceptors. But in low-lighting conditions, it's hard for the photoreceptors to gather enough photons. The image gets "noisy.".
Which part of the eye is most sensitive to dim light?
Then it moves through the aqueous humor, to the lens, which finishing up concentrating the light on the retina. The retina is packed with photoreceptors, the cones, which detect color, and the rods, which do not pick up color but are more sensitive in dim light.
Overview
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 metric tons (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue dorsally and somewhat lighter underneat…
Description
Blue whales have long, slender mottled grayish-blue bodies, although they appear blue underwater. The mottling pattern is highly variable. Individuals have a unique pigmentation pattern along the back in the region of the dorsal fin which can be used for the purpose of identification.
Additional distinguishing features of the blue whale include a broad, flat head, …
Taxonomy
The genus name, Balaenoptera, means winged whale while the species name, musculus, could mean "muscle" or a diminutive form of "mouse", possibly a pun by Carl Linnaeus when he named the species in Systema Naturae. One of the first published descriptions of a blue whale comes from Robert Sibbald's Phalainologia Nova, after Sibbald found a stranded whale in the estuary of the Firth …
Behavior
Blue whale populations may go on long migrations, traveling to their summer feeding grounds towards the poles and then head to their winter breeding grounds in more equatorial waters. The animals appear to use memory to track the shifting hotspots of predictable feeding areas. There is evidence of alternative strategies, such as year-round residency, and partial (where only so…
Conservation
The global blue whale population is estimated to be 5,000–15,000 mature individuals and 10,000-25,000 total as of 2018. By comparison, there were at least 140,000 mature whales in 1926. There are an estimated total of 1,000-3,000 whales in the North Atlantic, 3,000-5,000 in the North Pacific and 5,000-8,000 in the Antarctic. There are possibly 1,000-3,000 whales in the eastern So…
See also
• List of cetaceans
• List of largest mammals
• List of whale vocalizations
Further reading
• Calambokidis, J. & Steiger, G. (1998). Blue Whales. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-89658-338-2.
• "Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus". MarineBio.org. Retrieved 21 April 2006.
• NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources Blue whale biology & status
External links
• Blue whale vocalizations – Cornell Lab of Ornithology—Bioacoustics Research Program
• Blue whale video clips and news from the BBC – BBC Wildlife Finder
• Voices in the Sea – Sounds of the Blue Whale