Whale size (blue whale)

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My 6 year old son, Gabriel, wants to know how whales got so big. I have not
found a very good answer. Can you help?

Thanks.

Timothy Smith and Gabriel Smith-Rodgers
*************
I'm surprised you weren't able to locate any size information by looking
thru the WhaleNet archives or any of the links provided for at that website.
Obviously, the question really pertains to what is the largest whale. The
largest whale is the blue whale, which is the largest animal to have ever
lived on Earth. The largest blue whales measured reached 30.5 meters in
length (multiply by 3.14 to get the number in feet), with estimated weights
of over 160 tons. These measurements were during the whaling days, so now
with the populations very depleted, current sizes are not quite as large.
Probably 24 to 26 meters in length is a bit more realistic these days.

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