Blue Whale
Facts
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EN
Status
Endangered
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Population
10,000-25,000 individuals
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Scientific Name
Balaenoptera musculus
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Weight
Close to 200 tons
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Length
80-100 feet
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Habitats
Oceans

Blue whale at sunset, Mexico.
The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, weighing as much as 200 tons (approximately 33 elephants). The blue whale has a heart the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Its stomach can hold one ton of krill and it needs to eat about four tons of krill each day. They are the loudest animals on Earth and are even louder than a jet engine. Their calls reach 188 decibels, while a jet reaches 140 decibels. Their low frequency whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles and is probably used to attract other blue whales.
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Meet the biggest animal in the world
The Antarctic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus ssp. Intermedia) is the largest animal on the planet, but it is critically endangered. WWF is working to protect blue whale habitat, and a remarkable number of blue whales were recently sighted in the southern Atlantic ocean.

Why They Matter
Threats
- Population 10,000-25,000 individuals
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Extinction Risk Endangered
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EX
Extinct
No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
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EW
Extinct in the Wild
Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
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CR
Critically Endangered
Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
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EN
Endangered
Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
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VU
Vulnerable
Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
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NT
Near Threatened
Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
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LC
Least Concern
Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened
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EX

Like other large whales, blue whales are threatened by environmental change including habitat loss and toxics. Blue whales can also be harmed by ship strikes and by becoming entangled in fishing gear. Although commercial whaling no longer represents a threat, climate change and its impact on krill (shrimp-like crustaceans), blue whales' major prey, makes this cetacean particularly vulnerable.
What WWF Is Doing

Protecting Through Policy
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the body charged with regulating whaling and addressing the vast number of other threats to whales, dolphins and porpoises in our oceans such as shipping, climate change, and bycatch. WWF works to make the IWC more effective in reducing all these threats to whales.
Satellite Tracking
Southern Chile’s Gulf of Corcovado is an important feeding area for blue whales. However it is also home to the country’s abundant salmon farms and utilized by artisanal and industrial fisheries. Collectively they create multiple threats to whales, from marine debris to bycatch to vessel strikes. WWF is using satellite tags to see what specific routes are used by the whales and which areas are used the most often. This information will help inform decisions about protected areas, to prevent interactions between whales and salmon farms or wild-caught fisheries.
Experts
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