BLUE WHALE

THE LARGEST ANIMAL THAT HAS EVER LIVED, THIS BLUISH-GRAY WHALE WAS FEARED BY OPEN BOAT WHALERS OF THE 19TH CENTURY BECAUSE OF ITS POWERFUL FLUKES AND ITS SPEED WHEN WOUNDED - UP TO 20 KNOTS BY THE EARLY 1900,s WHALERS BEGAN HUNTING THE ANIMALS IN FAST STEAM-POWERED CATCHER BOATS, KILLING THEM WITH FRAGMENTATION BOMB FIRED FROM CANNON, AND BUTCHERING THEM AT SEA ABOARD HUGE FLOATING FACTORIES. IN 1931, THE WHALERS OF THE WORLD KILLED 29,606 BLUE WHALES HAVE BEEN PROTECTED SINCE 1966 BY ALL THOSE NATIONS ADHERING TO THE INTERNATIONAL WHALING CONVENTION

THE LARGEST BLUE WHALE BOTH MEASURED AND WEIGHED (PIECEMEAL) WAS A FEMALE BROUGHT TO THE WHALING STATION AT SOUTH GEORGIA IN THE SOUTHERN ATLANTIC ABOUT 1931. SHE WAS 96.8 FEET (30 M)LONG AND WEIGHED ABOUT 196 TONS (177.8T). WHALES SIGHTLY LONGER THAN 100 FEET (30 M) HAVE BEEN REPORTED. A 100-FOOT FEMALE AT THE PEAK OF HER FEEDING SEASON IN THE ANTARTIC SUMMER MIGHT WEIGH AS MUCH AS 215 TONS (195 T).....