61. Dolphin Saves Stuck Whales, Guides Them Back To Sea The bottlenose dolphin Moko swam up to two pygmy sperm whales stuck in a New Zealand sandbar and guided them back to sea, witnesses report. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080312-AP-dolph-whal.html

NEWS HOME ANIMAL NEWS ANCIENT WORLD ENVIRONMENT NEWS ... WEIRD NEWS Dolphin Saves Stuck Whales, Guides Them Back to Sea By Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand Associated Press March 12, 2008 Most days Moko the bottlenose dolphin swims playfully with humans at a New Zealand beach. But this week, it seems, Moko found his mojo. Witnesses described Wednesday how they saw the dolphin swim up to two stranded whales and guide them to safety. Printer Friendly Email to a Friend SHARE Digg StumbleUpon Reddit RELATED Dolphin Numbers Still Low Despite "Safe" Tuna Fishing, Experts Say (March 26, 2007) VIDEO: Stranded Dolphins Rescued PHOTO: Stranded Sperm Whale Dies (January 15, 2008) Before Moko arrived, rescue workers had been working for more than an hour to get two pygmy sperm whales , a mother and her calf, back out to sea after they were stranded Monday off Mahia Beach, New Zealand Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith said. But Smith said the whales restranded themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea from the beach, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Wellington. It was looking likely they would have to be euthanized to prevent a prolonged death, he said.

62. Heroic Dolphin Rescues Stranded Whales - Boing Boing Moko, a bottlenose dolphin in New Zealand who likes to swim with the locals, rescued a pair of pygmy sperm whales that were stranded and dying on a sandbar. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/heroic-dolphin-rescu.html

Boing Boing Home Gadgets TV Suggest a Link ... Joel Heroic dolphin rescues stranded whales Posted by Cory Doctorow , March 12, 2008 2:27 AM permalink Moko, a bottlenose dolphin in New Zealand who likes to swim with the locals, rescued a pair of pygmy sperm whales that were stranded and dying on a sandbar. "They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea." Along came Moko, who approached the whales and led them 200 meters (yards) along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea. "Moko just came flying through the water and pushed in between us and the whales," Juanita Symes, another rescuer, told The Associated Press. "She got them to head toward the hill, where the channel is. It was an amazing experience. The best day of my life." Link posted in: Happy Mutants Science Favorite this! Share this reddit_url='http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/heroic-dolphin-rescu.html'; reddit_title='Heroic dolphin rescues stranded whales'; digg_url = 'http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/heroic-dolphin-rescu.html'; digg_skin = 'compact'; digg_window = 'new';

63. Animal & Nature Gifts From Whales & Friends Catalog Animal Nature themed gifts make great presents. A huge selection of animal nature gifts at whales Friends Online Animal Catalog. http://www.whalesdirect.com/

View Cart Order Status FAQ Home We Proudly Accept: New Arrivals Spring 08 Catalog Shop By ANIMAL Bear Gifts Bird Gifts Butterfly Gifts Cat Gifts ... Wolf Gifts Shop By CATEGORY Automobile Calendars Cell Phone Accessories Christmas Ornaments ... from child trafficking. We offer an amazing variety of products featuring animal and nature themes. We also offer personalized gifts, t-shirts, mouse pads, travel mugs and more for all animal or nature lovers! Concave Aluminum Frame Wall Aquarium NO AIR/EXPRESS SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. PLEASE ALLOW @2-3 WEEKS TO FOR DELIVERY. Horse Desk Clock Was $17.95 ... Gift Certificates Receive exclusive web only sales promotions, special offers and updates on the latest products! HomeRoom Catalog - Teacher Gifts NursesStation Catalog - Nursing Gifts OpenPlease Catalog - Dental Gifts Click here if you have any questions or comments. ... Privacy Statement

64. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Whales Campaign In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium on all commercial whaling. Since then, three nations – Iceland, Norway, http://www.seashepherd.org/whales/

Visit our     Online Store! Sign up for our Email Newsletter The Whale's Navy In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium on all commercial whaling. Since then, three nations – Iceland, Norway, and Japan – have brutally slaughtered over 25,000 whales under the guise of scientific research and for commercial purposes. The IWC does not have the capacity to enforce the moratorium. Sea Shepherd, guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature, is the only organization whose mission is to enforce these international conservation regulations on the high seas. credit Paul Taggart/World Picture News DEFENDING WHALES Whale Campaign Home Blog Antarctica SSCS History ... Video TAKE ACTION What You Can Do Australia Action Support Sea Shepherd Highlights from our past three decades include: Ramming and disabling the notorious pirate whaler, the Sierra Shutting down half of the Spanish whaling fleet Documentation of whaling activities in the Faeroe Islands chronicled in the BBC documentary Black Harvest Scuttling half of the Icelandic whaling fleet and whale processing station Scuttling of the Norwegian whaling vessels Nybraena and Senet Confronting and opposing Japan's illegal whaling in Antarctica Sea Shepherd has gone on to end the careers of 9 illegal whaling vessels, saving thousands of whales. These campaigns and other Sea Shepherd efforts have kept the issue of whaling in the international spotlight for the past thirty years.

65. International Year Of The Ocean - Whales - Page 1 whales, dolphins, and porpoises are fascinating to many people. It may be because of their size or because of their activities that can seem so playful or http://www.yoto98.noaa.gov/books/whales/whale1.htm

ENDANGERED WHALES Cetaceans Whales, dolphins, and porpoises are fascinating to many people. It may be because of their size or because of their activities that can seem so playful or because of the attention that has been focused on human threats to these animals. The whales, dolphins, and porpoises are in an order known as cetaceans. These creatures of the sea are mammals just like humans. They breath air. They are warmblooded. They bear live young called calves which are nursed by their mothers. There are currently seven species of cetaceans in U.S. waters that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. They are the blue whale, the bowhead whale, the fin whale, the humpback whale, the northern light whale, the sei whale and the sperm whale. All seven species are listed as endangered. These whales became endangered because they were hunted so heavily that the populations were severely reduced. During the 19th century, whales were hunted primarily for oil and baleen. Before the advent of electricity, many American homes were lighted with whale oil. As recently as twenty years ago, products from whales were used for everything from machine oil to women's cosmetics. Because of the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, it became illegal to import products containing materials from whales. Two species of whales may show the opposite extremes of what may happen in the future. Both the gray whale off of our west coast and the right whale off of our east coast were hunted to the verge of extinction. The grey whale may be the symbol of hope. The population has now recovered and has been removed from the list of endangered species. On the other hand, the right whale population, despite being protected from hunting for over fifty years, numbers less than 400 animals. Even in the best of circumstances, it may take a hundred years for the right whale population to recover. Humans still present a problem for the slow moving right whale, as one of the major causes of death for this species is collisions with ships.

66. Orca Killer Whales, Gray Whales BC Orca killer whales, gray whales BC, Pacific Northwest Gulf Islands and San Juan Juan Islands including Victoria, Vancouver, Sooke, Friday Harbor and Orcas http://www.whalesbc.com/

CLICK HERE FOR WHALE WATCHING IN VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA RESIDENTS Foraging a-forage.ra Resting a-d-rest.ra Socializing a-d-soc.ra Socializing r1-js.ra OFF SHORES offshores.ra TRANSIENTS transients.ra PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS dolphins.ra WhalesBC.com Orca Killer Whales, Gray Whales, Sea Lions and other Marine Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest in the Gulf Islands and the San Juan Juan Islands including Victoria, Vancouver, Sooke, Friday Harbor and Orcas Island Orca Whales Grey Whales Orcinus Orca The Killer Whale is the largest member of the dolphin family and they tend to be found in groups called pods, a group of related families. Occasionally two or more pods join together temporarily and can consist of up to 100 whales. Each pod has been named over the years by researchers. Orca Whale Sounds Orcas vocalize while going about their various activities. The clicks you hear in some of the audio files are the sounds Orcas use to echo locate food and other underwater objects. The other sounds are calls that the whales use to communicate with each other. The forehead (or melon of an Orca) is used to generate the wide variety of sounds the whale is capable of producing. Sounds are generated when the whale forces air in and out of the complex network of passages and cavities in the melon.

67. Whales Index Page - NRDC's BioGems NRDC BioGems page to save whales and other marine mammals. http://www.savebiogems.org/whales/

Home About BioGems About NRDC Victory Timeline ... Donate PICK A BIOGEM Arctic Refuge Castle-Bighorn Cumberland Plateau Florida's Emerald Coast Heart of the Boreal Patagonia Redrock Wilderness Tongass National Forest Upper Gulf of California Western Arctic Reserve Yellowstone/Rockies BIOGEMS WATCHLIST Gray Whale Nursery Grizzlies in Peril Polar Bear S.O.S. Saving Bird Habitat Whales in Danger Ear-splitting military sonar is needlessly threatening whales and other marine mammals throughout the world's oceans. Yet the U.S. Navy has resisted legal requirements to put safeguards in place during testing and training that would protect marine animals from avoidable injury and death. In response to this dangerous breach of our bedrock environmental laws, NRDC is waging a campaign of courtroom action and public pressure to compel the Navy to restrict its use of deadly sonar. High-intensity sonar blasts whales with noise billions of times more intense than levels known to disturb them and can cause their internal organs to hemorrhage. Scientists have linked the use of mid-frequency military sonar to hundreds of whale strandings and deaths around the world, in areas such as North Carolina, the Bahamas, Greece, the Canary Islands and Japan. Such sonar can also interfere with a whale's hearing, affecting its ability to navigate, avoid predators, find food, care for its young and, ultimately, survive. NRDC's campaign to rein in deadly sonar took a major step forward in February 2008, when a federal judge struck down a waiver issued by the White House that would have exempted the U.S. Navy from obeying a key environmental law during sonar training exercises that endanger whales. The waiver was a last-ditch attempt to let the Navy unleash an onslaught of military sonar off the coast of southern California home to five endangered species of whales without taking precautions to protect marine mammals from a lethal bombardment of sound. In response to a lawsuit filed by NRDC, the same court had recently ordered the Navy to put far-reaching safeguards in place during the sonar maneuvers to protect marine mammals.

68. THE WHALE'S TAIL - The Best Seafood Dining Experience In Oxnard California www.thewhalestail.com/ 2k - Cached - Similar pages Gray Whale watching in Big Sur, CaliforniaThe whole population of Gray whales migrate past the Big Sur California coastline twice a year. Eschrichtius robustus migrates past the Big Sur coastline http://www.thewhalestail.com/

69. The Origin Of Whales And The Power Of Independent Evidence Duane Gish of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) regularly trots out the bossieto-blowhole transition to ridicule the idea that whales could have http://www.talkorigins.org/features/whales/

The Origin of Whales and the Power of Independent Evidence by Raymond Sutera [posted: August 10, 2001] This article originally appeared in Reports of the National Center for Science Education, a publication of The National Center for Science Education Thewissen and others (1994) published this reconstruction of the skeleton of Ambulocetans natans (redrawn for RNCSE by Janet Dreyer). ow do you convince a creationist that a fossil is a transitional fossil? Give up? It is a trick question. You cannot do it. There is no convincing someone who has his mind made up already. But sometimes, it is even worse. Sometimes, when you point out a fossil that falls into the middle of a gap and is a superb morphological and chronological intermediate, you are met with the response: "Well, now you have two gaps where you only had one before! You are losing ground!" One of the favorite anti-evolutionist challenges to the existence of transitional fossils is the supposed lack of transitional forms in the evolution of the whales. Duane Gish of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) regularly trots out the "bossie-to-blowhole" transition to ridicule the idea that whales could have evolved from terrestrial, hooved ancestors. There simply are no transitional forms in the fossil record between the marine mammals and their supposed land mammal ancestors . . . It is quite entertaining, starting with cows, pigs, or buffaloes, to attempt to visualize what the intermediates may have looked life. Starting with a cow, one could even imagine one line of descent which prematurely became extinct, due to what might be called an “udder failure” (Gish 1985: 78-9).

70. WWF - Cetaceans whales, dolphins and porpoises are succumbing to new and everincreasing dangers. There are over 80 species of cetaceans, a group made up of whales, http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/about_species/species_factshee

Log in to myWWF Sign up Help About WWF ... Indus River dolphin Cetaceans Old dangers persist, new ones have appeared Common Name Cetaceans; Cetaceos(Sp); Habitat Oceanic Background Related links Factsheet: Cetaceans Factsheet: River dolphins Conserving Cetaceans on a Global Scale Seven out of the 13 great whale species are still endangered or vulnerable after decades of protection. Facing a multitude of hazards Whales, dolphins and porpoises are succumbing to new and ever-increasing dangers. Collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear threaten the North Atlantic right whale with extinction, while the Critically Endangered Western North Pacific gray whale is at serious risk because of intensive oil and gas development in its feeding grounds. Alarm is also growing over other hazards including toxic contamination, the effects of climate change and habitat degradation. It's illegal, but it still happens: commercial whaling Despite a moratorium on commercial whaling and the declaration of virtually the whole of the Southern Ocean as a whale sanctuary, each year over 1,000 whales are killed for the commercial market. What WWF is doing In order to help secure the future of the world's whales, WWF is developing an ambitious conservation programme for endangered whale species and populations.

71. Blue Whale | Cetacean Fact Sheet | American Cetacean Society ACS blue whale fact sheet concise, scientifically reviewed basic information on the blue whale, including physical description, prey, range, and status, http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/bluewhl.htm

Conferences Curriculum Fact Packs Outreach Spyhopper Whalewatcher Journal 2006-Ventura 2004-Long Beach 2002-Seattle 2000-Monterey Reports Gray Whales IWC/Whaling MMPA Orcas Right Whales Sound/Sonar Tuna/Dolphin Research News Excerpts Reseach Programs Baja Trips Around Catalina Humpback Adventure Blue Whale Watch Baja Basecamp Baja Lagoons Contact ACS History Members-Only Regional Chapters Supporters Channel Islands Los Angeles Monterey Bay Orange County ... San Francisco Donate Join ACS Volunteer acsonline.org Join! Education Issues Research Whale Watching About ACS How to Help ACTION ALERT! members-only home education fact packs ... Interactive Pages species fact sheets Baird's beaked whale Beluga whale Blue whale Boto ... Spotted dolphin misc. fact pages Bibliography Glossary Links Taxonomy ... Shop iGive Mall A merican C etacean S ociety F act S heet BLUE WHALE Balaenoptera musculus CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Cetacea SUBORDER: Mysticeti FAMILY: Balaenopteridae GENUS: Balaenoptera SPECIES: musculus The blue whale is one of the rorquals , a family that also includes the humpback whale fin whale Bryde's whale, sei whale , and minke whale . On land an animal the size of a blue whale would be crushed by its own weight without the support of large heavy bones. Because its body is supported by water, as a sea animal, the need for heavy bones to support its weight disappeared. This, plus the availability of a large food supply, have made it possible for the blue whale to reach such an enormous size. The blue whale makes deep and rumbling sounds which can be felt as much as heard. These low-frequency sounds travel long distances through water, allowing blue whales to communicate with each other over hundreds of miles of ocean.

72. Pacific Whale Foundation Maui whale watching, dolphin watching, ecotours, student internships and Adopt-A-Whale program. http://www.pacificwhale.org/

Welcome to the Pacific Whale Foundation Website. The non profit organization dedicated to protecting whales and their ocean home. home Contact us log in About Us ... Save the dolphins in sea,you can help us to protect dolphins Snorkel Maui's famous reef at Molokini Marine Preserve and Turtle Arches. Cruise to Lana'i to watch wild dolphins and snorkel two dazzling reefs. Experience the thrill of watching whales on our Whalewatch Ecotours. Learn about Lahaina's riveting past on our Enjoy a romantic night at sea aboard our Sunset Dinner and Cocktail Cruises Read the rave reviews from travel writers and guests and see why our expert-led tours are Maui's #1 ocean eco-tour choice! April 06, 2008 Stargazing Cruise April 06, 2008 Stargazing and Whale Song Serenade Cruise ... Get Involved! Join Pacific Whale Foundation and support our work to protect whales, dolphins and their ocean habitats. You'll save 20% on all Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures and receive our distinctive member's t-shirt as a FREE gift. Read on Already a member? Log in Photo Of The Day Went out on The Ultimate Whale Watch with Captain Eric and caught this beauty showing off in January 2007. Took the picture with my Kodak Easy Share DX6490 digital camera. What a day!!! Sue and Larry Metz

73. Blue Whale Photographs Underwater - Balaenoptera Musculus Provides underwater and aerial photos of the blue whale. http://www.earthwindow.com/blue.html

Blue whale photographs and video. Underwater and topside nature photography from Southern California. Next QuickTime Video On this page... Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus baleen whale rorqual krill whale with diver cow and calf fluke Next Features Blue whale I II Ocean Sunfish Pelagic Crabs ... Home Contact Mike Johnson

74. The Infamous Exploding Whale There s been a story floating around the net for years about a beached whale that was blown up (exploded, not inflated) for lack of a better way to be rid http://www.perp.com/whale/

The Infamous Exploding Whale There's been a story floating around the net for years about a beached whale that was blown up (exploded, not inflated) for lack of a better way to be rid of it. Many people thought it was an urban legend It wasn't. Florence, Oregon, USA. November 12, 1970. A news crew (led by reporter Paul Linnman ) was on hand for this historic event, and got the whole thing on tape It was a big whale. It was a smelly whale. Most importantly, it was a dead whale. Obviously, a significant amount (half a ton) of dynamite was required. Main Letters Video Paul Linnman Dave Barry ... Credits

75. Whale Watching In Maui With Maui Princess Cruises Whalewatch Whale Watching (Whalewatch) in Maui, Hawaii with Maui Princess Cruises. Stay comfortable and dry on our 100 foot whale watching vessels. http://www.whalewatchmaui.com/

Humpback Whale Research Lahaina Harbor, Maui, Hawaii Maui is the best place to see humpback whales in their natural breeding area in Hawaii. Every year from mid-December through mid-May the humpback whales make their home in the waters surrounding the island of Maui. We offer Maui whalewatch cruises four times a day from Lahaina Harbor where the wind and the seas are calm. Our fleet takes you out to the whales fast, as we have some of the largest, most stable boats on Maui. The whales migrate close to 3,500 miles from their Alaskan summer feeding waters, to the warm waters of Hawaii where they mate and have their calves. Our researchers in Maui spend time studying the humpback whales each winter. We put together this website to share our knowledge of the humpback whales with you. If you are interested in joining our research team, visit our Intern Page to see if you qualify. Learn about these magnificent creatures, find out how you can participate aboard one of our whale watch vessels from Lahaina Harbor. Make your plans to visit Maui this year and help us study the North Pacific humpback whales in their natural environment. To learn why the humpback whales choose Maui as their breeding area, click here

76. "whale" Definition From Double-Tongued Dictionary A1 In the parlance of the casino industry, a huge bettor like Mr. Kashiwagi is a “whale,” which surely makes Mr. Trump his Ahab. http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/whale/

Wordinistas! Check out A Way With Words , public radio's call-in show about language. About Categories Citations Cohort ... Search whale n. a serious, heavily funded bettor; a high roller Subjects English Gambling Slang Comments? ... Tell a Friend Citations Robert Johnson Wall Street Journal Joe Drape New York Times Adam Levy, Jeannine DeFoe Bloomberg.com Suzette Parmley @ Atlantic City, N.J. Philadelphia Inquirer Permalink Tell a Friend Leave a comment (must be approved by the moderator before it will appear). Name (mandatory): Email (mandatory): Location (optional): Your Web Site (optional): Remember my personal information Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments. Recent Catchwords tissue n. (4/3) blood money n. (4/3) san man n. (4/3) meso n. (4/3) linthead n. (4/3) head-and-gut fleet n. (4/3) buster slash n. (4/2) spit sock n. (4/2) wealth-fare n. (4/2) bear raid n. (4/2) garagiste n. (4/2) fat tail n. (4/2) plat rush n. (4/2) shark rodeo n. (4/1) amenity migrant n. (4/1) shadow toll n. (4/1) cartoonal adj. (4/1) poverty pimp n. (4/1) double effect n. (4/1) muti murder n. (3/31)

77. Whale Watching Tours, Whale Watch Trips From Cape Ann, North Of Boston Whale watching and deep sea fishing fleet with daily trips from Gloucester. Naturalist led marine life sight seeing. http://www.yankeefleet.com/

YANKEE WHALE WATCHING Whale Watching Why Choose Us Tour Schedule Whale Watch Prices Book a Trip School Trips Whale Seafaris Current Reports Deep Sea Fishing Groups/Charters Key West Ferry Education Ask the Scientist Monthly Topics School Programs Touch Tank Shore Displays CORE Special Programs Tortugas Birding About Us FAQs Contact Info Directions Current News News Archives News Sign Up Press Photo Contest Exciting Whale Watching! We'll be going through October - Join us! Click Here to See Video Vessels News/Events Discounts Weather Whale Research Around Cape Ann Fish Recipes New Location for 2008! Yes, after over 30 years at the Cape Ann Marina, the Yankee Fleet will be relocating to downtown Gloucester. We are really excited to be able to continue our goals of having the best fishing fleet on Cape Ann. All Day fishing will begin running everyday as of April 1st. Private charters are also available and being booked for 2008. All trips are available at 2007 prices if booked by March 1st. Dates are going quickly so contact Teresa for details, 1-800-942-5464! Spring Charter Special out of Historic Gloucester There are quite a few dates still available for our popular mid-week Spring Charter Specials. These are great opportunities to get your group together, and have a great time on the water. Sometimes it can be difficult to get a big group together to justify chartering our big boats. Well, with our Specials, that is no longer a problem!

78. Newburyport Whale Watch, Best On The North Shore Information on whale watch tours and dinner cruises, including school trips and private charters. http://www.newburyportwhalewatch.com/

79. Killer Whale, Killer Whale Profile, Facts, Information, Photos, Pictures, Sounds Get killer whale profile, facts, information, photos, pictures, sounds, habitats, reports, news, and more from National Geographic. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/killer-whale.html

Site Index Subscriptions Shop Newsletters ... Catalog Quick Shop Sign up for free Newsletters Once a month get new photos and expert tips. Sign up advertisement Animals Animals Main Amphibians Birds ... A-Z Killer Whale (Orca) Orcinus orca Killer whale breaching Killer Whale (Orca) Profile Though they often frequent cold, coastal waters, orcas can be found from the polar regions to the Equator. Killer whales hunt in deadly pods, family groups of up to 40 individuals. There appear to be both resident and transient pod populations of killer whales. These different groups may prey on different animals and use different techniques to catch them. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals. All pods use effective, cooperative hunting techniques that some liken to the behavior of wolf packs. Whales make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape. Killer whales are protective of their young, and other adolescent females often assist the mother in caring for them. Mothers give birth every three to ten years, after a 17-month pregnancy.

80. NPCA | Blue Whale Easyto-read fact sheet complete with photographs. From the National Parks Conservation Association. http://www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/marine_wildlife/bluewhale.html

Wetlands Beaches Coral Reefs Marine Wildlife ... Wildlife Protection SIGN UP FOR NEWS + ALERTS RSS Feeds Home Marine and Coastal Marine Wildlife Text Size: Take Action Action is Long Overdue. Loaded Cameras? Makes Sense. Loaded Guns? No Way. Latest Press Releases National Parks Conservation Association Says New Funding for Grand Teton Pathways Will Benefit Community, Visitors Travel With Us! Photo Safari in Yellowstone National Park Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) Factoid: The blue whale is the largest mammal ever to inhabit the Earth. Status: Endangered Population: Estimated between 1,300 to 2,000, the population of blue whales is dangerously low. Threats: Blue whales face threats from entanglement in fishing nets, pollution, and illegal whaling. Survival: The lifespan of a blue whale is estimated to be 80 years. Blue whales are found throughout the world's oceans. These gentle giants have grayish-blue skin with light spots. Measuring 70 to 80 feet in length (the longest recorded length was 106 feet), blue whales can weigh as much as 90 to 150 tons, although females are larger than the males. Blue whales generally spend winters in temperate and subtropical zones, migrating toward the polar regions in spring and summer. They swim 14 miles per hour (with bursts as fast as 30 mph) and feed at depths of less than 330 feet (but can dive as deep as 1,640 feet). Dives last from 10 to 20 minutes. Usually they travel alone or in small groups of two to four, although off the coast of California some groups as large as 60 have been seen.

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