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29 January 2007
Sara's Challenge
Posted by Sara, on the Esperanza
I've been a journalist for many years and my brain is the repository for more useless information than you can begin to image - very handy for impressing at dinner parties - very boring on long train journeys (at least for my fellow travellers).But in my crew profile I did promise more amazing facts on whales.
A blue whale's heart beat can be "heard" - okay okay - detected, more than
two miles away.
Okay, so here's the challenge - I promised in my crew profile more amazing whale facts - I have loads - but now it's your turn to show me what you've got.
Here's another one for free: The tongue of a blue whale is as heavy as an elephant.
Comments
"Humpback whales have a type of brain cell seen only in humans, the great apes, and other cetaceans such as dolphins, US researchers report."
Posted by: Andrew at January 29, 2007 2:26 PM
Blue whales are the loudest animal. How do they make those sounds? How do they do it? Volume, volume, volume!
"Basically, the blue whale puts out the most sound energy because, being the largest animal to have ever lived, it can."
The blue whale can produce all this "sound energy" by moving vast amounts of air across its larynx. (Blue whales don't have vocal cords like we do. But they do have cartilage and folds of skin that operate in a similar way.) A blue whale can take about 500 gallons of air into its lungs at the surface. (You and I have a lung capacity of up to 1.5 gallons). Researchers believe whales move this huge amount of air through these vocal folds and cartilage to a "sack" in the larynx. This sack is a special piece of anatomy in whales that allows them to recycle air. So they can make more sounds without surfacing for air.
The loud "songs" of blue whales are produced only by males. So experts have assumed they must be related to mating and are used to attract a mate, defend territories and holler at other males. But Erin Oleson, a blue-whale researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Southern California, points out something intriguing: Males "sing" year-round, even when they're not supposed to be mating. And they sing in feeding grounds as well as breeding grounds.
Posted by: echo at January 29, 2007 2:57 PM
Blue whales brains are nearly four times heavier than humans.
Posted by: sara at January 30, 2007 2:34 AM
- The blue whale is the largest living creature on earth.
- A blue whales heart can weigh as much as 1500lbs.
- The main arteries of a blue whale are so large a small person could crawl through them.
- They can be up to 130ft long and weigh up over 200 tons (400,000lbs).
- In it's first few weeks of life a baby blue whale can gain as much as 10lbs per hour.
- It's been estimated that over 300,000 blue whales existed before whaling efforts. Now only about %1 of that exist today. They are now an endangered species.
Posted by: Andre Inglis at January 30, 2007 6:14 AM
Hey Andre,
No far using up all the good ones!
:)
Posted by: Andrew at January 30, 2007 9:04 PM
Blue whales remain on the surface of the water an average of 8 to 10 blows prior a dive which can be as long as 20 minutes.
They usually cruise along at about 12 mph (19 km/hr), but can sustain speeds of 30 mph (48 km/hr) if frightened or chased.
The blue whale lifts its tail fluke out of the water on its dives.
Its broad and triangular flukes resemble the tail section of a 747.
Posted by: echo at January 31, 2007 2:41 PM
Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's
stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
Posted by: echo at February 1, 2007 2:36 PM
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