Blue whales protect themselves and their babies with size and speed. the
adult mothers are huge (95 tons) and they can swim quite fast in short
spurts. The baby whales can get a pull from swimming near the mother's
dorsal fin area so they can keep up. Blue whales casually swim at 2.6 meters
a second and they can do this for vast distances. The fastest Olympic
swimmers sprint swim at 2.3 meters per second and for only 50 meters. Blue
whales can swim for a long time and are only rarely attacked.
An animal the size f a blue whale only has to be concerned by killer whales.
I do not know if blue whales use the same defensive strategy as humpback
whales but humpbacks will get between their babies and predators and take
mighty tail slaps toward the attackers. The tail of a blue whale is a mighty
weapon.
Dr. Tom Ford
From: "Erica A. Astbury"
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:51:46 -0700
To: tjfketos@rcn.com
Cc: "Holly L. Tomey" <hbrink@cherrycreekschools.org>
Subject: questions about blue whales
Dear Dr. Ford,
I read about whales that they can live up to 70 or 80 years old. I
learned that baby blue whales are 24 feet long. How do the blue whales
protect themselves and their babies?
Sincerely,
Erica Astbury
P.S. Why do blue whales baleen instead of teeth?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Mar 21 2005 - 02:29:29 EST