Facts about blue whales

This is the largest collection interesting facts about blue whales. What's the largest animal ever to inhabit the earth. The dinosaurs? Nope - it's actually the blue whale. If you know this, either you've been paying attention at elementary school or you're an avid naturalist.

The blue whale is big. Phenomenally big: it's almost the size of a space shuttle orbiter, or if you don't know how big that is, just go to your local basketball court. The blue whale is longer than it. They're also mysterious: despite their size, blue whales are so rare that even experts know little about them.

-          They can weigh up to 200 tons. That's about 8 DC-9 aircraft's or 15 school buses.

-           In fact, their tongue alone weigh about 4 tons as much as an elephant.  About 100 people can fit in a blue whale's mouth.

-          A blue whale heart is the size of a Mini Cooper and can weigh close to 2,000 pounds (~907 kg). Its heartbeat can be detected from two miles away and a human can easily crawl through its major arteries.

-          Blue whales can produce sounds louder than a jet engine (188 dB vs. jet engine's 140 dB) and can communicate with other whales up to 1,000 miles away.

-           A single adult eats about 4 tons of krill (tiny shrimplike animals) a day.

-          The spray from a blue whale's blowhole is almost as tall as a three-story building (30 feet or 9 m). A toddler can fit into its blowhole.

-          The average length of a blue whale is 70 to 85 feet but they have been known to reach lengths of 100 feet (30 m).  Lengthwise that's the equivalent of two city buses and longer than an NBA basketball court.

-          The average lifespan of a blue whale is 60 to 70 years although according to various sources it is reported as low as 40 years and as high as 110 years.

-          Blue whales can swim at speeds up to 30 miles per hour.

-          The blue whale has a blowhole on the top of its head to breathe through.

-          Blue whales do sleep usually in the middle of the day.

-          The whale hears through sound waves traveling through the water.

-          Female whales are pregnant for about twelve months.

-          Females give birth to one calf every two to three years.

-          A newborn calf weighs about three tons when it is born and averages approximately twenty-five feet in length.

-          The blue whale is the loudest animal in the world.

-          The population of blue whales is dangerously low with only an estimated 1300 to 2000 left.

-          The female whales are longer than the males.

-          The largest blue whale ever recorded was an adult female measuring 108 feet. (Some sources say 106 feet.)

-          The blue whale is currently an endangered species.

-          The arteries of a blue whale are as big as drain pipes. It is estimated that they are large enough for a medium sized dog or even perhaps a small human to crawl through them.

-          The mouth of a blue whale is big enough to park a car in it.

-          The blue whale is also known as a sulfur-bottom whale.

-          Blue whales usually travel alone or in pairs.