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Correct!
Blue whales, like humans, are mammals. Like all mammals, they are warm-blooded, give birth to live young, nurse their babies with milk, and breathe air through lungs.
Scientific name: Balaenoptera musculus
Size: 80 feet long
Weight: 120 tons
Habitat: near the surface of all oceans
Diet: tiny, shrimp-like organisms called krill
Characteristics: blue-gray skin with light spots on sides and back, small dorsal fin, long, thin flippers
Significance: endangered because of overfishing
Cool fact: whales must surface to breathe through their blowholes, spouting water up to 30 ft
Blue whales are in the same class of animals as:
A baby blue whale is called a:
cub
chick
calf
Correct!
A baby blue whale is called a calf. When they're born, calves are about 23 feet long and weigh over 5,000 pounds. That's one big baby!
Because of the blue whale's enormous size, it is a ferocious predator that preys on large fish to survive.
Fact
OR
Fiction
?
Fiction
Despite their enormous size, blue whales eat mostly tiny, shrimp-like organisms called krill. Of course, it takes about 40 million krill a day to satisfy a blue whale!
Blue whales are the loudest animals on Earth—louder than a jet engine.
Fact
OR
Fiction
?
Fact
Blue whales are actually the loudest animals on Earth. Their calls can be heard for miles.