Calendar

Southern Japan (extirpated by whaling)
Northern Japan / Kurils
Aleutian islands (aerial survey in 1984 produced no sightings -severely depleted)
Eastern gulf of Alaska (uncommon)
California Mexico (increasing)
There is also probably an Eastern Tropical Pacific stock (depends upon whether the whales remain resident all year or rotate to the area from other stocks.

Abundance

Total North Pacific blue whale pre-whaling estimates range from 4500-6000
Between 1910 and 1965 a reported total of 9500 Blue whales were killed by whalers This includes 1378 taken by Norwegian fleet off Baja 1913-1935 and 48 taken by U.S. land based whalers from 1958-1965.
Estimates reported from 1966 to 1981 were between 1499-1900 blue whales in the total North Pacific
Estimates in the early 90s suggested 1400 whales in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and 2100 whales in the California / Mexico stock which equals 3500 blue whales in the Eastern Pacific.
There are no good current estimates from the Western and Central Pacific, although they are thought to be depleted. It is known that the Soviet whaling fleet illegally took blue whales in the Antarctic after their protection, it is suspected that they may have also taken blues in the North Pacific during that time (only speculation).

The abundance of blue whales along the California coast has been increasing in the last two decades.
Huber reported sightings off the Farallones in 1981 and 1982. The 1981 sightings were the first since 1970 when observations began. Also noted that whale-watching boats had increased sightings.
Researchers report that blue whales have been seen with increasing frequency in the Gulf of California and southern California. More than 700 blue whales have been photo-identified in California and Mexico waters through 1993.
The magnitude is considered too big to be accounted for by reproduction alone. It is therefore assumed that a population shift has occurred.
Don Croll believes that a shift in ocean productivity, i.e., the abundance of krill, has occurred, which is bringing the whales closer to the coast of North America .
These shifts may be related to decade long oscillations in the pacific.

What is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and why does it affect blue whales?

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, is often described as a long-lived El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) type of pattern of Pacific climate variability.
Two main characteristics distinguish the PDO from ENSO.
First, typical PDO "events" have shown remarkable persistence relative to that attributed to ENSO events - in this century, major PDO eras have persisted for 20 to 30 years.
Second, the climatic fingerprints of the PDO are most visible in the North Pacific/North American sector, while secondary signatures exist in the tropics - the opposite is true for ENSO.
Several independent studies find evidence for just two full PDO cycles in the past century:

Cool PDO regimes prevailed from 1890-1924 and again from 1947-1976

Warm PDO regimes dominated from 1925-1946 and from 1977 through (at least) the mid-1990's.

Recent changes in Pacific climate suggest a possible reversal to cool PDO conditions in 1998.

Causes for (and predictability limits of) the PDO are not known.
A flip from warm to cool PDO phases--may have taken place in 1998, coincident with the demise of the 1997/98 El Niño and the beginning of the ongoing La Niña episode.
Currently, because no one is certain how the PDO works, it is not possible to say with great confidence that these recent changes in Pacific climate mark the beginning of a 20-to30 year long cool phase of the PDO

The largest PDO-related anomalies are found in the central North Pacific Ocean , where a large pool of cooler than average surface water has been centered for much of the past 20 years.
The peak amplitude of the surface temperature regression coefficients in the cold pool are on the order of -0.5°C.
The narrow belt of warmer than average surface temperature that, in the past two decades, has prevailed in the near shore waters along the West Coast of the Americas is also a distinctive feature of this pattern.

Our Ms Blue stranded in 1979 at the beginning of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation warming trend.

Length:

Getting accurate length on a blue whale is not as easy as it sounds.
The proper scientific manner to measure the length of a whale is to measure from the point of the upper jaw to the notch in the tail along a straight line.
The lower jaw in life extends up to 1.5 feet beyond the upper jaw.
The position of the lower jaw may be shifted considerably after death by the weight of an animal on the beach.
The length was often measured to the tips of the flukes. This length varies depending upon the placement of the fluke tips.
The whale may be twisted on the beach or lye in a curve. (The measurement should be in a straight line rather than curvilinear.)
The action of the waves may affect the measurement.
The skull bones may start to disarticulate due to the sheer weight of the head and affect the measurement of a dead animal.
In whaling times, the flukes where usually cut off by whalers to more easily tow the carcass. Old time whalers may have exaggerated lengths.
The end result is that lengths reported in the literature may or may not have been taken in the proper fashion. Unless the method of measurement is explicitly stated in the reference the lengths for the longest specimens reported must be suspect.
Please note, Be careful..... there are several versions of the longest reported Blue Whale in the literature

Longest blue ever measured in the correct manner (in a straight line from the point of the upper jaw to the notch in the tail) was a 33.58 meter (110 foot) female from the Antarctic , measured at south Georgia Island between 1904 and 1920 [Yochem and Leatherwood]
Another source: 31 meters (101.7 feet) but unofficial reports of whales 33.5 meters (110 feet)long are not uncommon. [Rudge]
The largest reliable record was 106 foot female 1926 near south Shetland Island , there was also a 104 foot female in 1926 at same time and place [Small]
The largest blue reported in the north pacific was 26.8m (88 foot) from Port Hobson in 1932, and a 27.1m (89 foot) Japanese in the north pacific pelagic whaling in 1959 [Reeves]

Weight:

There is significant seasonal weight change in blue whales
The best regressions would use girth measurements as well. So far that has not happened. This leaves predicting weight form length with a large seasonal error.
Fewer than 30 were ever weighed, half of which were done by the Japanese.
The heaviest weight reported was that of a 190 tonne (187-ton) female, 27.6-m (90.5 feet) taken March 20 1947 at South Georgia . Concerning this last specimen, Scheffer wrote "After transposing the figures, correcting an error in the published arithmetic, and adding 6.5% for loss of body fluids (mostly blood) I arrive at a…whole weigh of 196 short tons."
Given that very few were ever weighed a very large one could easily have exceeded 400000 pounds [Small]

Please note: the definition of ton can vary depending on who you are talking to...Ton n. Abbr. t. , tn. 1. A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (0.907 metric ton or 907.18 kilograms). Also called net ton, short ton. 2. A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (1.016 metric tons or 1,016.05 kilograms). Also called long ton. 3. A metric ton. 4. A unit of capacity for cargo in maritime shipping, normally estimated at 40 cubic feet. 5. A unit of internal capacity of a ship equal to 100 cubic feet. 6. A unit for measuring the displacement of ships, equal to 35 cubic feet, and supposed to equal the volume taken by a long ton of seawater.

Reproduction:

Single calf every two to three years
Gestation estimated at 10-11 months.
Multiple embryos reported but rare. Except for Scammon's report of twin Humpback calves, there are no reports of cows nursing multiple calves.
Blue whale Percentage twins = 0.68 %
One female carcass yielded 7 fetuses!
The reproductive capacity of the blue whale was the lowest of all baleen species
Female unlikely to have more than two offspring by the age of 10
Males are slightly more numerous than females in catches
The ratio of pregnant to non-pregnant female is twice as high in blue as opposed to pygmy blues, presumably reflecting the increased pressure on blues. Blues were hunted from 200,000 down to 2000, while pygmies declined from 10,000 down to 5000. In populations that are depleted, there is less food limitation and a tendency to mature early and have more frequent offspring.
Blue whales with calves are present in the gulf of California from December to March

Birth weight:

A "newborn calf" has never been caught. Calves are born in the tropics, not on the feeding grounds. The birth lengths and weights are inferred from curves of fetal growth and from data about whales that were pregnant with very large fetuses. There is likely to be a range of length and weight at birth as the size of the female can range from 80 to over 100 feet.

Reported values:

7-8 meters and 3.6 metric tons (4 short tons) [Leatherwood]

Calves 6-7 meters at birth (20 -23 feet). [Yochem]
3 ton 25 foot calf [Small]
Newborn blue is 25 feet long and weighs more than 2 tons [Slijper]
Blue whale calf grows from 25 feet to 50 feet within 6 - 7 seven months 1.75 inches per day from 2 - 23 tons about two hundred weight a day [Slijper]
Blue whales double their weight in the first week [Slijper]

Weaning:

Weaning is more surely known. Whales weaned their calves on the feeding grounds. When the youngest whales were killed their stomach contents were checked. If they had milk in the stomach they were nursing. If they had krill and milk, they were being weaned.

Weaned at seven months and 16 meters (52.5 feet) [Yochem]
Weaning occurs in June and July at approximately six months of age [Reeves]

Sexual maturity:

Blue whale sexually mature at 4.5 to 6 years old [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Females reach sexual maturity in the Southern Hemisphere at 23 to 24 meters (75.5 -79 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Females reach sexual maturity in the Northern Hemisphere at 21 to 23 meters (69 -75.5 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Reach sexual maturity at 5 years BUT past workers have assumed that laminae form in ear plugs at a rate of two per year. If as some workers now believe, the rate is one per year, reported estimates should be doubled, that is, age at sexual maturity is 10 rather than 5 years. [Yochem, #42]

females become sexually mature at 4-7 years of age [Rudge, 1981 #31]

females become sexually mature at around 24 meters (78.5 feet) [Rudge, 1981 #31]

Physical maturity:

Length at physical maturity is 25 meters in the North Pacific (82 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Length at physical maturity is 26-27 meters in the South Pacific (85-88.5 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Males are sexually mature at 20-21 meters in the Northern Hemisphere (65.5-69 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Males are sexually mature at 22 meters in the Southern Hemisphere (72 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Males are physically mature at 24 meters in the Northern Hemisphere (78.7 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Males are physically mature at 24 meters in the Southern Hemisphere (78.7-82 feet) [Yochem, #42]

Age determination:

Baleen plate age determination becomes impossible after the age of 5-7 because the tip of the plates have worn away. [Yochem, #42]

The preferred method of age determination of baleen whales is analysis of the growth layers in the waxy ear plug. Unfortunately the population of blue whales when this technique was first developed (the first extensive collection of ear plugs was made during the 1955-1956 Antarctic season) that the data are "too sparse to be useful". Estimates range from 30 years to 80 years. [Yochem, #42]

These whales could live over 80 years (S.G. Brown - personal communication) [Rudge, 1981 #31]

Skeleton:

Skeleton weighs 17 percent of the total weight of the animal[Slijper, 1979 #24]

Using 100 ton Blue = 17 tons

Skeletons of young animals contain red bone marrow for making red blood cells [Slijper, 1979 #24]

As the animal ages the marrow becomes yellow starting at the cervical and the tail and working toward the thoracic vertebrae. Yellow bone marrow is entirely fatty tissue. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Fat content of the skeleton is 51% of the head 84%, a max of 24% from red marrowbones and 32-68% in yellow marrowbones. The bones contribute a third of the total oil yield. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The carcasses of blue and fin whales at the end of the end of the whaling season float (have put on a tremendous amount of blubber) Flensed carcasses always sink. Animals that are alive can float with their blow holes out of the water thanks to the air in their lungs. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Greatest number of vertebrae in white-sided dolphin (93 vetebrae) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Bones were 30% oil by weight, the second most important part of the whale for oil. [Small, 1971 #8] The fat counteracts the weight of the bone to give neutral buoyancy.

The largest mounted whale in the world?

A 1934 published note that the skeleton in the British Museum whale (82 feet) was the largest whale skeleton displayed in the world. The writer was noting that there was a 91 foot skeleton in Java (Museum at Buitenzorg) which was 27.8 meters (91.2 feet) but he didn't know if it was mounted. Also pointed out that the California Academy of Science blue whale was 87 feet when measured alive in 1908 (didn't state measurement method) and that the mounted skeleton was 75 feet long. The mandible was 19 feet long (same as the LML whale) [Davidson, 1934 #27] Now that the California Academy of Science blue whale is back in storage, the largest mounted whale skelton in the world is at LML.

Cervical ribs: page 62 cervical ribs are not rare in several species they are common in B borealis they are fused to the first rib Slijper 1938 gives several examples [ Harrison, 1977 #28]

Heart:

The blue whale heart weighs half a ton [Small, 1971 #8]

Heart weight is 5.15 kg per ton in fin whales [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Using 100 ton Blue = 515 kg

Heart weight is 5.21 kg/ton in sei whales [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Heart weight is 3.83 kg/ton in sperm whales (seems odd that it's LESS!) [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Estimates for fin and sei are not different from projections for terrestrial animals of the same size. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Fin and sperm whales show a decline in the fractional value of organ weights with advancing mass, however, the growth curve for sei whales shows and increasing curve for heart weight with advancing mass. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

One would expect whales by virtue of being "weightless" to require less heart size, however the size of cetacean hearts may reflect the muscle mass and speed and temperament of the species. Because rorquals are fast whales, it suggests that need relatively larger hearts than sperm whales. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Heart mass 6 feet wide and 10-11 cwt (1100 -1200 pounds) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Estimated pulse rate of 8 per minutes [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Heart weight 0.5 % in blue and fin whales (earlier measures had indicated 2.6 -3.9 %) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Picture shows diaphragm to edge of sixth rib [Slijper, 1979 #24]

In Mysticetes the heart breadth exceeds the length. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Aorta:

Using regression equation from " The Mechanical Properties of Fin Whale Arteries Are Explained By Novel Connective Tissue Designs" [Gosline, 1996 #44] the Calculated aortic diameter for a 100 ton blue whale would be 9 inches.

Blood supply: 3500-5000 gallons

The blue whale blood supply may exceed 15000 pints [Small, 1971 #8]

Large rorqual blood is 6.5% of weight [Small, 1971 #8]

Scholander 1940 estimated blood volume for baleen whales at 10% and 20% in a sperm whale. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Lockyer 1976 evidence that at most 75% of the blood may be drained from a carcass. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Therefore weight estimates of whales can be corrected by adding ~6% to baleen whales. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

6.5 % blood in blue whales (4-8 % in rabbits) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Lungs:

The lungs of a blue whale weigh up to a ton, the blue itself up to 100 tons [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Lungs of a 70-foot fin whale have a maxim um capacity of 2000 liters of air. They exchange 80-90% of the air at each breath. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Average lung weight is 1% vital capacity is 2.5 - 2.8% [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]

(would be 2500 liters in Ms Blue @ 100 tons)

Diameter of the trachea is more than foot in large whales (“so that a small child could easily crawl through it”) !!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Diaphragm horizontal to aid buoyancy but means that the animal must use the diaphragm to breath rather than the ribs., the ribs are increasingly one headed or floating to allow great mobility during diving when they are compressed. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Lung pleura are thickened with elastic tissue. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Brain:

The heaviest brain was from a sperm whale 19.6 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The brain of a 100-ton blue whale was found to weigh 15.25 pounds (0.007% body weight) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The human brain weighs 3 pounds (1.93% body weight) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Vibrissae:

Rorquals have 50-60 hairs [Slijper, 1979 #24]

One row on the edge of the upper jaw

Another on either side of the axis of the upper jaw

400 nerves to every hair [Slijper, 1979 #24]

There are 400 "shafts" forming a semicircle in front of the palate, connecting the baleen rows on the left and right sides. The fringe bristles of blue whales are black, ellipsoid in cross section, and thickened proximally. These characteristics distinguish the bristles of blue whales from those of other rorquals. Fringes of old individuals may be gray. [Yochem, #42]

Whale vibrissae: Page 409

B physalis and B borealis are fish eaters and have half of their vibrissae on the tip of the lower jaw compared to B musculus that has only a third there. The rest are on the upper to detect krill

Fin and sei whales have been observed to suddenly turn to their side and open mouth feed suggesting that sensing at the tip of the jaw starts the feeding response. Blues have a less localized feeding response

There are over 40,000 nerve endings (as distinct from vibrissae) on the head of a whale

See vibrissae.bmp and vibrissae2.bmp

Feeding trigger: Vibrissae rise from the flat surface on the tip of the mandible The vibrissae on the mandibles of the Balaenoptera appears to be well suited for this. [Slijper, 1979 #24] At a point where the threshold is exceeded the mandible drops and the buccal cavity envelopes a large volume of sea water just as the rostrum penetrates the densest part of the swarm. A meter too early and it would be like trying to capture an organism with a submerged bucket, where the bow wave pushes the intended prey well ahead of the opening. [ Harrison, 1977 #28]

Page 51 "The appearance of a balaenopterid in this feeding stance must look much like a snake engulfing large prey, where the loosely articulated mandible is dislocated from the skull." [ Harrison, 1977 #28] This quote lead to a persistent misunderstanding that whales disarticulate their jaws to feed.

The tactile method of feeding must be employed where the light conditions may not be precise. [ Harrison, 1977 #28]

Baleen:

Fetal teeth are present in Greenland whales [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Fin whale fetus 4-8 months old (4.3-10 feet long). Incision is made in sift mucous membrane of upper or lower jaw. Row of conical tooth buds will appear. In the upper jaw these tooth buds lie slightly sunken within a white smooth glistening ridge from which the young baleen will later develop. The beginnings of the baleen, a row of small cornified transverse ridges, first appears in fetuses when they exceed 10 feet. At this stage the rudimentary teeth of both the lower and the upper jaw disappear without a trace. However their presence during the early stages of development is clear evidence that Mysticetes are descended from a line of ancestors with teeth in both jaws. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Generally do not exceed 1 meter and are broader than they are long. The plates vary in length depending upon location in the mouth. The tongue palate and baleen are black. Specimen contain 270-395 plates per side. [Yochem, #42]

California Academy of Science blue whale was 87 feet when measured alive , 400 pounds of baleen came from this whale (same size as LML) [Davidson, 1934 #27]

In Right whales the baleen is twice as long as the space allotted when the mouth is shut. It was demonstrated that the baleen "folds" when the mouth is shut in a backward direction to accommodate the small mouth. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Tongue:

The blue whale tongue is bigger than a taxi cab [Small, 1971 #8]

In mysticetes the tongue changes from birth to adulthood. It starts with a small freely moveable tip. It expands to cover the bottom of the mouth as the whale grows. The tongue of a blue whale weighs as much as an adult elephant! (4 tons or 2.5% body weight). It is made almost entirely of spongy connective tissue. The tissue quickly decomposes after death, when gasses make the tongue swell like a balloon. "No doubt this is the reason why some people still believe the fable that whales can inflate their tongues at will to help them swallow their food". The real part played by the tongue is not fully known. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Esophagus:

Pharynx and esophagus diameter normally 4-5 inches, in a blue whale they can "probably expand their esophagus to 10 inches," [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Stomach:

Stomachs of big whales could hold over a ton of krill. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

75% of blue whales have their stomachs filled to capacity in the Antarctic. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Wall of the first stomach in a fin whale can be up to three inches thick. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

In mysticetes the second compartment is larger than the first (opposite of odontocetes) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Stomach of an Antarctic blue was found to contain nearly one ton of krill. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The first chamber of the stomach is a dilation of the esophagus, analogous to the crop of birds. Composed of squamous epithelium. Any digestion is from reflux of juices for the second stomach. This may only happen after death, rather than in a live animal. In as short a period of time as three to four hours, the krill ingested at the time of death can be reduced to the consistency of "a thin gruel". [Matthews, 1978 #33]

On the whaling grounds all whales had full intestinal tracts and only 10% had empty stomachs (death struggles?) [Small, 1971 #8]

By the way…..

Slijper gives a drawing that infers that one killer whale examined by Eschricht in 1891 contained 13 whole porpoises and 14 seals. If he had read the paper carefully it apparently contained remains,(some in very small fragments) not the whole animals [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Intestines:

Mysticetes have a very short cecum, none in odontocetes [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Fin whales have 400% of body length for intestinal length. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

In mysticetes there is a cecum and colon as opposed to odontocetes where there is no delineation. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

The length of the intestines is 5 - 6 times the body length. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Using 87 foot Blue = 450-500 feet [Matthews, 1978 #33]

In odontocetes it can reach 15 or 16 times the body length. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Liver:

All cetaceans do not have a gall bladder [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Curves for fin whale liver mass decline sharply with increasing size. Looks to flatten at .9 or 1.0 % kg/ton [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Using 100 ton Blue = 1 tons

Liver in large rorquals may weigh a ton (0.9%) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Pancreas:

Pancreas 0.03 -0.15% in large cetaceans [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Pancreas of blue wale weighs 50 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Spleen:

Spleen 0.025% of body weight compared to 0.3% in terrestrial animals. In a large rorqual the spleen is 6-22 pounds and 60 cm long. There can be multiple spleens. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Using 100 ton Blue = 50 pounds

Kidney:

Curves for kidney mass are relatively flat but two different researchers get slightly different values of either 2 or 4 kg/ton [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Using 100 ton Blue = 400 kg (881 pounds)

Cetacean kidneys are about twice the size of terrestrial animals [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Pinniped kidneys are even larger. [McAlpine, 1985 #25]

Rorquals have about 3000 reniculi per kidney [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Bladder:

Fin whale bladder holds 5.5 gallons of urine

Testes:

Testes of blue whales may be 2.5 feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Penis:

In large rorquals the penis can be up to 10 feet long with a diameter of 1 foot [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Ovaries:

The ovaries of large rorquals can be up to one foot long and weigh 22 pounds. On one occasion an 83 foot pregnant female blue whale with ovaries that each weighed 75 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

In blue whales the corpus luteum has a diameter of 8 inches and a weight of 5.75 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Mammary glands:

Mammary gland s in rorquals are 7 feet by 2.5 feet by 2.25 inches resting increasing to to a max of one foot in thickness during lactation [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Milk:

Lactation lasts seven months [Macintosh, 1929 #38]

Calves reach 16 meters at the end (53 feet) [Macintosh, 1929 #38]

Fat content 34.6 - 50.7% [Ognev, 1962 #46]

Calves suckle frequently but for only a few seconds [Ognev, 1962 #46]

Calves gain 81.3 kg per day on milk consumption of 90 kg (Tomlin, 1946)

Calves gain 100 kg per day and grow at 4.3 cm ( 1.7 inches per day, or 11.8 inches per week) [Ognev, 1962 #46]

81.3 = 220 days

100 kg = 180 days lactation

Although calves are weaned at 16 meters, a case is described by Lillie in 1910 when whalers found milk in thew stomach of a 19,2 meter whale in the North Atlantic . [Ognev, 1962 #46]

Adrenal glands:

Adrenal glands in large rorquals 8 -12" x 6 - 8 " x2 -4 " both glands together weigh 28 -88 ounces (0.001 -0.003%) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Thyroid gland :

Thyroid gland in big whales 0.01% in Rorquals 14 inches long 2.25 -9 pounds [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Parathyroid gland:

Parathyroid gland 2.75 x1.5 inches, 0.33 -4.5 ounces in large rorquals [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Pituitary gland:

Blue whale pituitary 1.25 ounce [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Blubber:

Blue whale blubber varied from less than 20% to 35% of total weight [Small, 1971 #8]

Dorsal blubber is particularly thick with a fat content of 80% [Small, 1971 #8]

The thinner flank blubber may only have 34% fat [Small, 1971 #8]

The average for the blubber is 60% fat [Small, 1971 #8]

Blue whale normally 27% blubber [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Blue whales have 6 inches thick blubber. The blubber is not uniformly thick on the whale. In large Rorquals the it is thickest on the dorsal side of the lumber and caudal regions and thinnest on the flanks. Moreover the blubber increases from front to back, so that the top and bottom of the tail are particularly fat. Thickenings of the blubber also occur on the upper side of the lower jaw, in front of the blow hole, at the base of the pectoral fins, and just in front of the dorsal fin. The blubber is particularly thin around the eyes and a little to the side of the blow hole, which is probably connected with movement of the eyes and walls of the blow hole. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The average fat content of the blubber is 60% in Rorquals [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Relative thickness of the blubber is 0.53% for blue whales [Slijper, 1979 #24]

190 ton whale had a max blubber thickness of 16.6 inches! [Ognev, 1962 #46]

Pregnant cows have the thickest blubber and lactating cows the thinnest. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

The thinnest animal ever described was a 65 foot fin whale female which stranded in 1944 the blubber thickness was 1.25 inches! And the fat content 1.7 -3.5% [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Brain:

Brain of an 81 foot blue whale weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and fit in a pan 12 X 14 inches [Small, 1971 #8]

Temperature:

Blue whale internal temperature is 95 - 96 degrees F [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Throat pleats:

55-88 pleats in the throat [Yochem, #42]

Muscles:

Muscles of a blue whale weigh 40 percent of the animal's weight [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Using 100 ton Blue = 40 tons

Swim speed:

Swim speed of 2 to 6.5 km/hr while feeding. [Yochem, #42]

Swim speed of 5 - 33 km/hr while migrating. [Yochem, #42]

Maximum swim speed of 20-48 km/hr while being chased or harassed. [Yochem, #42]

Before WWII catcher boats made 14-15 knots (16 - 17 mph) and had to "stalk" whales. Now they are faster and chase the whales till they tire. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Normal speed of blue and fin whales is 10-12 knots rarely exceeds 14 knots [Slijper, 1979 #24]

18-20 knots for 10-15 minutes [Slijper, 1979 #24]

They can “sprint” at 30 mph for short distances [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Laminar flow and turbulent flow:

If drag becomes too great the innermost particles cannot glide within the outer layers. The velocity is called the “critical” velocity and eddies are formed. The nearer to the front of the object the greater the adverse effect. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

In order to make 15 knots, the animal must develop 10 HP in laminar flow and 168 HP in turbulent flow. From the weight of the muscles it appears that it can develop up to 62 HP, which enables it to pull a catcher boat behind it at a rate of 4 –7 knots even though the boat is pulling in the opposite direction. 62 Hp would be required if in fact the animal was laminar in the first two thirds and turbulent in the last third. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Krouh, A calculations in 1934, 23 m whale swimming at 5 knots = 5 HP

10 knots = 46.8 HP

27.5 meter whale at 20 knots max = 500HP [Ognev, 1962 #46]

Dive pattern:

Blue whales generally make 10-20 shallow dives at 12-20 sec intervals followed by a deep dive of 10-30 min. [Yochem, #42]

Maximum dive is 50 min [Ognev, 1962 #46]

If a catcher chases fin whales they may come up every 70 seconds (panting) [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Blow:

Blow is 6-12 meters narrow and vertical. [Yochem, #42]

Blow of blue whale is 20 feet high [Slijper, 1979 #24]

"Fluking" on dive:

Lifts tail higher than 10 feet when making a deep dive. [Yochem, #42]

A small percentage of blue whales "fluke up" when diving

Dive depth:

Blue can dive to 50 fathoms (Schloander recorded 200 fathoms from a wounded fin whale) . Most krill found in the first 5 fathoms but krill may descend to 500 fathoms. [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Dive length:

Rorquals stay down for up to 40 minutes [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Heat generated:

Heat loss via the blubber is only 10%. The rest has to be shed via the flippers and the flukes (and in the feeding act where heat loss can occur to the tongue) [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]

Metabolism:

Q = 70.5W(to the 0.7325 power)kcal/day = 302252 kcal per day (Ms Blue) this is the basal metabolic rate, add 15% for the resting rate. [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]

In pre-pubertal and adult whales the balance energy budget requires an increase of at least 50% in body weight in the form of fat tissue during summer to survive the winter months. Females must attain an increase of 60 -65% body weight. [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]

Surface area:

A = 1000W(0.685 power)= 2492562 square cm = 298.1 square yards = 6% of one acre = ms Blue [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]

Feeding:

[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Working Party on Marine Mammals, 1978 #47]…

In the Antarctic whales eat 30 - 40 grams per kg per day

Therefore Ms Blue would eat (100 tons) @ 30 - 40 gm/kg/day = 3 - 4 tons per day

Feed at one tenth the rate for the rest of the year

Average for the year is 12 grams/kg/day

A whale eats 3.5 - 5 times his body weight per year

Food passage probably takes 14 - 15 hours.

The caloric value of wet whole krill is 100 kcal per kg.

The total volume and weight of krill the feeding zones and the amount eaten by whales are astonishing. The Russian biologist Zencovich has made some interesting calculations about them. In the 61 years from 1904, when Antarctic whaling began, to 1966 when it had declined disastrously due to scarcity of whales. 331,142 Blue whales were taken, as were 671,092 Fin whales, 145,424 Humpbacks, and 87,284 Sei whales- nearly half the latter in only two of the seasons because of the great decline in the number if Fin whales.. The original stocks in 1904 before exploitation were about 100,000 blue whales, 200,000 fin whales, 50,000 Humpbacks, and 75,000 sei whales. The whales fill their stomachs at least four times a day, spend about 120 days feeding in the Antarctic each season; they digest their food quickly, in three to four hours, and consequently fatten quickly. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

The blue whale eats about one ton of krill at a meal, the fin whale about 700 kg, the humpback and sei about 300 kg. The total weight of food for the day is thus about four tons in the blue whale, three tons for the fin whale, two tons for the humpback and one and a half tons for the sei whale. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

In a feeding season of 120 days, a blue whale takes some 480 tons, a fin whale 360 tons, a humpback whale 240 tons, and a sei whale 150 tons.. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

In 1904 the blue whales must have eaten 50 million tons in a season.

Fin whales 72 million tons

Humpbacks 12 million tons

Sei whales 11.25 million tons

The total was 150 million tons of krill in the 1904 season. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

6.21X10^9 miles (six billion miles) of 1 gram krill (60 -70 mm long) laid end to end

is 61 times to the sun

Krill swarms may be 10 kg /cubic meter in the Antarctic [Matthews, 1978 #33]

150 million tons would be 15 billion cu meters of krill swarm

Main dolphin pool is 90,000 gallons or 396.4 cu meters

The krill swarm would fill the main dolphin pool 38,000,000 times

There are 172,800 minutes in 129 days

Imagine pouring 219 dolphin pools per minute for 120 days into the open mouths of 400,000 whales.

Realize that the krill are swarming to AVOID their major predators! The whales represent a small amount of krill predation, or the whales are a new threat that krill have not yet worked out a successful strategy to evade. The true krill production in the Antarctic must be staggering.

Nonetheless, since the whales have been decimated there is a lot of krill that is going to be used by somebody. Who benefited? It is though that fur seal populations have skyrocketed and probably crabeater and leopard seal populations as well. Penguins may not depend on swarming of the krill, but may benefit greatly anyway. The same is true of fish and squid. But in the end there is little information on the biomass of these predators prior to the advent of Antarctic whaling.

In 1963 a pelagic gadoid fish, the Blue whiting, Micromesistius australis, previously known from the continental shelf of Patagonia found in dense shoals in the Scotian sea. It is now known to from similar dense shoals feeding on krill in South Georgia Island . The blue whiting is palatable and being caught in large qualities by Russian and polish factory ships. It seems inconceivable that whalers would have overlooked such a resource for 60 years of whaling. They have probably increased due to the increase in krill. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

There was also a spectacular increase in the South Georgia fur seal. Once numerous but almost exterminated by sealers in the nineteenth century. In the 1920s a few fur seals were seen from tine to time. By 1950 the herd had increased to 10,000 by 1970 to over 250,000. Now krill make up much of their diet. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Blue whales feed almost exclusively on a few species of euphausiids. In the North pacific, their major prey species are Eupausia pacifica, Thysanoessa spinifera, T. inermis, T. longipes, T. raschii, and Nematoscelis megalops. They aslo take copepods of the genus Calanus and, less frequently, Sergestes spp. Amphipods and squid. They have also been observed feeding on swarms of "red crabs" (Pleuroncodes planipes) off Baja California. [Yochem, #42]

It is estimated that a blue whale can eat from less than 2 tonnes to 4 tonnes of krill a day. [Yochem, #42]

Marks and Discovery tags:

Marks consisted of a numbered stainless steel shaft about the size of a large cigar coated with antiseptic ointment It was fired into the whales blubber with a shotgun, and the time and place recorded from 1924 to 1964 900 blue whales were marked , but only 80 marks were recovered.

Not a single mark was found outside the Antarctic.[Small, 1971 #8]

Tag returns provide the only evidence of exchange between populations on the feeding grounds. Ivashin and Rovnin (1967) report a blue whale tagged in the Okhotsk sea (50dgrees 13 minutes N 153 degrees six minutes W ) killed 4 years and one month later in the gulf f of Alaska east of Kodak Island )57 degrees 14 minutes N 147 degrees and 16 minutes W) [Yochem, #42]

Stainless steel tube 10.5 inches long fired from a special gun or a modified harpoon gun from no more than 65 feet. Finder is promised reward of one British pound. The are coated with penicillin ointment. They generally lodge in dorsal muscles, where they are often overlooked during processing. Of the 5063 marks fired from the William Scoresby from 1934-1939 only 370 were recovered [Slijper, 1979 #24]

Death:

Whale starts to heat after death. After 20 hours the meat begins to bake [Small, 1971 #8]

After 33 hours the oil is unusable. [Small, 1971 #8]

After two days the carcass may explode [Small, 1971 #8]

Whalers used to open the abdomen of a sperm whale that could not immediately be cut up on arrival to a whaling station to avoid a danger of explosion. Mysticetes have distensible grooves that make explosion less an issue. [Matthews, 1978 #33]

Dollars:

given the 1950s price for oil, an average whale might be worth $4000 [Small, 1971 #8]

At 1976 prices the vale of the meat alone in a large specimen might be $150,000 [Rudge, 1981 #31]

Some opinion polls show that younger generations of Japanese are more interested in conservation than culinary delights. The price for whale meat in Japan has decreased in recent years -- falling to $12 a pound in 2004 compared with $15 a pound in 1999. Demand for whale meat has been anemic. Last year, the industry put 20 percent of its 4,000-ton haul into frozen surplus.....what's a whaling country have to do to make a buck these days?

At $12 a pound, 40 tons (the amount of meat in a 100 ton whale) equals $960,000 dollars!