The Birth of a New Baby Blue Whale Brings Hope

In early march of 2009 a new calf was born. This young whale will have to nurse and be tended to by its mother for two to three years before it goes off on its own to survive against pollution and man's predation. These whales produce patterned sequences of powerful, low frequency calls that have the lowest voices of any whale, vocalizing as low as 14 hz at volumes up to 200 decibels. Sounds at this frequency and intensity can travel for thousands of miles in the deep ocean. These sounds may be used to communicate with other whales to navigate by creating a sonic image of distant oceanic features.

The endangered blue whales are found in all oceans of the world, from the tropics to the drift ice of polar waters. Its populations have been severely depleted throughout its range due to commercial whaling. They are slate to grayish blue and mottled with lighter spots, particularly on the back and shoulders. The undersides often become covered with microorganisms, giving the belly a yellowish tinge. Because of this blue whales are sometimes called "sulphur-bottom". Northern hemisphere blue whales seem to travel shorter distances than their southern cousins between rich feeding areas and may breed in some of these areas, such as the costa rica dome, west of the Galapagos islands and the gulf of california. The blue whale occurs mostly in cold and temperate waters. It prefers deeper ocean waters as opposed to coastal waters. Its diet consists almost entirely of shrimp like crustaceans known as krill, which it eats during the summer feeding season.

During the other 8 months of the year it apparently doesn't eat anything, living off of stored fat. The blue whale usually feeds at depths of less than 100 m (330ft). A dive usually lasts 10 - 20 minutes. When making a deep dive, the whale "headstands," exposing its wide tail flukes, then descends steeply. On returning to the surface, the whale releases a "blow," about 9 meters (30 ft) high, consisting of warm, humid air from the lungs, mucus, and ocean water. The dorsal fin is short, only about 35 cm. The upper jaw is the widest in the genus, and the rostrum is the bluntest. There are 50-90 throat grooves that extend from the chin to just beyond the navel. After breeding in the winter months, the pregnancy period is eleven or twelve months. Young are born in warm, low latitude waters in the winter months after the adults return from their high latitude feeding grounds. At birth the young are 7-8 meters (22.75- 26 ft.) long. While nursing, blue whales can gain up to 90 kg in body weight a day. Young are weaned after seven or eight months. They will be about 16 meter (52 ft.) in length. Females are sexual mature when about occurs at 5 years old, and 21 to 23 meters (68.25-74.75 ft) in length. Every 2 or 3 years she will have another calf. Twins are rare. Males mature at 20 to 21 meters (65-68.25 ft.) in length and are about 5 years old. Longevity has been estimated to be about 90 years in the wild and up to 110 years in captivity.

Most populations of blue whales are migratory spending the winter in low latitude waters, moving towards the poles during the spring, feed in high latitude waters during the summer and heading back toward the equator during the fall. The spout of blue whales can reach almost 10 meters (32.5 ft) height.

Blue whales are usually solitary or in pairs of mother-calf pairs or two adults, although they may gather in loose groups have up to 60 to feed. Groups of up to 60 animals have been reported, but solitary animals or pods of two or three are more common. Blue whales in antarctic waters feed mostly on krill species, copepods, amphipods, and some fish and squid. Adult blue whales have virtually no natural predators except humans. Blue whale calves may be vulnerable to predation by orcas and large sharks. These gentle giants of the sea bother no one; they need our protection. Maybe by reducing our carbon footprint, cleaning up the seas and ending the harvesting the largest oldest living mammal on earth maybe just maybe we all can breathe easier and begin to live again.

Author : M. Wolken, PhD is Dr. Stress-Less a specialist in helping you and your planet get healthier and stress-less.
Let's work with our kids to save the planet join us at http://naturescrusaders.com.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.