When man first started hunting whales with sailing ships, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was too fast to be caught and too strong and powerful to handle so it escaped the fate of many of its cousins. Once steam ships and factory ships came on the scene this mammal was doomed. In 1930 nearly 30,000 blue whales were butchered and it was another 35 years before the Whaling Commission stepped in to stop the slaughter. It is estimated that only a few thousand remain today.
Not only the largest whale, the blue whale is the largest animal on earth: its tongue weighs the same as an elephant and, at 33m, the longest recorded animal would only just squeeze into a tournament-sized tennis court. Blue whales feed mostly on krill, taking 3.5-4 tonnes a day from their summer feeding grounds.
.jpeg "Blue Whales in The New World of Gnomes (1997).jpeg (235 KB)")
