[76][137][312] The estimate of pygmy blue whale off New Zealand from mark-recapture data is 718 (95% CI=279-1926, SD=433). Blue whales can grow to over 33 metres (around 100ft) in length, which is over twice as long as a t-rex dinosaur – and makes them the largest animal species on Earth! [209], For Antarctic blue whales, a single calf is born at 23 ft (7 m) in length and weighs 2.8-3 tons (2540–2722 kg). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The blue whale has been called the sulfur-bottom whale because of the yellowish underside of some individuals that is reminiscent of the pale yellow colour of that chemical element; this coloration is imparted by certain algae (diatoms) living on the whale’s body. In the Southern Hemisphere, blue whales can be seen in Gulf of Corcovado between Guaitecas Archipelago, Chiloé Island, and the Chilean mainland, and off the west coast of Chiloe Island from December through March. The first unit is a pulsive call ranging 19.8 to 43.5 Hz, lasting 17.9 ± 5.2 s. The second unit is a FM upsweep 55.9 to 72.4 Hz lasting 13.8 ± 1.1 s. The final unit is a long (28.5 ± 1.6 s) tone that sweeps from 108 to 104.7 Hz. [5][19] Hydrodynamic models suggest that a blue whale could not exceed 108 ft (33 m) due to metabolic and energy constraints. [303][304][305] In the western North Atlantic, there were an estimated 1,100–1,500 prior to modern whaling,[303][304] and in the eastern North Atlantic, estimates range from a “few thousand” to 10,000 blue whales in the Denmark Strait and 2,500 from northern Norway. [29] In pygmy blue whales, one corpus albicans is formed every 2.6 years on average,[28] which matches the two- to three-year interval between calves. The size of a blue whale calf is about 23 feet at birth and it weighs over 7,000 kg. [240] Blue whale song types were initially divided into nine song types,[65] although ongoing research suggests at least 13 song types. Prior to the survey, only a couple of animals have been observed in this area after mass hunting in the early 20th century. To keep up their size, blue whales feed solely on Krill, a little crustacean that just grows a couple of inches long. Females are larger than males of the same age, the largest perhaps weighing as much as 150 tons (136,000 kg). [79] There is no abundance estimate for overall pygmy blue whale abundance, which includes the Madagascar population, Western Australia/Indonesia population, and Eastern Australia/New Zealand population. [291] Blue whale takes peaked in 1931 when over 29,000 blue whales were killed. [263][264], The phylogeny of the blue whales is still debated because their placement varies depending on the molecular markers and phylogenetic analysis used. After a gestation of about 12 months, one calf about 8 metres (about 26 feet) long is born in temperate waters. [89][115][116][117] In the winter, they migrate to low-latitude waters, including Hawaii. In 1955 they were given complete protection in the North Atlantic under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling; this protection was extended to the Antarctic in 1965 and the North Pacific in 1966. [39][40] Acoustic recordings suggest that some individuals may remain on their feeding grounds[112][113][114] and on their breeding grounds year-round. In the North Pacific, blue whales can be seen in large numbers in Monterey Bay, CA from July through October. [68][78] Like the Madagascar population, this population’s distribution remains north of 52°S. The pygmy subspecies, B. m. brevicauda [70] is found in the waters off Indonesia, Australia, Madagascar, and New Zealand.[70][71][72]. 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