largest animals in the world's oceans, blue whales reach truly gigantic proportions - up to 33 meters and weigh these giants are more than 150 tons.For comparison, the same amount weighs 50 African elephants.For his active life the animal is required every day 1 million calories.The blue whale is a baleen whales (whales born), his typical diet - a small fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, plankton and krill.
Finding that amount of food is easy if you know where a lot of crustaceans.On the so-called "crop feeding", where the largest concentration of plankton, you can see several whales, but more than 3 individuals in the group, they are usually not collected.
blue whales distributed throughout the world's oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and the release several subspecies:
- north;
- south;
- dwarf;
- Indian.
first two species prefer cooler waters of the ocean, and a dwarf and an Indian found in tropical seas.Leading a solitary lifestyle, these mammals have developed their own original way of communicating.Sometimes adults will form small groups, although even in such a small community, they keep to themselves.
Big blue whale does not have a sensitive sense of smell, and almost deprived of, but he can communicate with the help of "singing".Enlistment males emit sounds during mating season.This song is more like a terrible howl, which can be heard at a distance of 1600 km.Females, too, sometimes talking, but only with her cub.According to scientists, blue whales analyzes the sounds, because this is the only way for them to communicate with the outside world.In addition, note the ingenuity and intelligence of these animals.
breeding period occurs every two years.On nurturing offspring takes 10-11 months.After the birth of a baby female feeds it milk for 7-8 months, at the end of this period, the young whale's weight is over 20 tons and a length greater than 20 meters.At this time, the skin of the baby already impressed marine parasites.Ongoing studies have identified a significant number of internal and external parasites whale.During his stay in the fields of adult animal feeding covered by diatoms, which scientists have counted 31 species of whale on one only.From this mammal skin becomes yellow-green, numerous mollusks live in the same place, right on the body of an animal.
For years, blue whales were exterminated by man.For the production of baleen, and meat fat people hunted these giants, reducing the population by 100 times.In the early 20th century led to uncontrolled fishing that is now on the planet there are not more than 1,500 individuals.Scientists forecast disappointing: the view can not be saved from disappearing from the face of the Earth.In the North Atlantic at the moment there is not more than 100 adult whales.
Their extinction is continuing due to the discharge of waste into the ocean, oil leakage and active human intervention in nature.Too slow natural growth strongly inhibits the resumption of the population, while the content in artificial conditions is not possible due to the size of the mammal.
