The largest animals on earth, blue whales are an amazing yet endangered species. They can grow as long as 30 metres and weigh up to 200 tons. Despite this overpowering size, the diet of these giants is mainly composed of a eusaphid called krill, a small shrimp-like creature, A blue whale can consume up to 4 tons of krill per day. Blue whales are grey-blue in coloration. They have yellow underbellies with many grooves. Furthermore it has a broad flat head and a long tapered body.
A significant feature of blue whale is the presence of baleen plates as a mechanism for consumption of food. Baleen plates are fringed, fingernail-like plates attached to the upper jaw. When blue whales consume krill, they take in a large volume of water containing the krill and other substances. The purpose of these baleen plates is to filter krill from these products.
The blue whale inhabits all of the world's oceans and usually travels in solidarity, although it is not unusual for blue whales to travel in small groups. Their large size puts blue whales at the top of the food chain, without many predators that will attack it. However, modern whaling technologies have improved and now threaten the survival of the blue whale species as a whole.
