Much bigger than the dinosaurs, Blue Whale is the largest animal ever to live on the earth. Besides her size, Blue Whale is noted for other exceptional qualities as well. Swimming alone in the ocean, She has to communicate long distances underwater to other Blue Whales, so She makes the loudest sound of any living creature. Her bass moans are also the lowest sounds in the ocean. Possessing the tallest and strongest blow of any Whale, Blue Whale’s water sprout is also noticeably slender and upright.
However, Blue Whale is full of contradictions. The largest animal on earth feeds on Krill, one of the smallest animals in the sea. (Instead of teeth, She has a row of plates in her mouth called baleen, which functions as a food-collecting device.) For such a fast moving Whale, Blue Whale has a distinctively small and stubby dorsal fin.
Although Blue Whale is called ‘blue’ because of her skin color, her mottled, splotchy body actually reflects more colors than any other Whale. When the sun sets below the horizon and darkness falls on the ocean, Blue Whale’s body mirrors the colors of the sky and sea. The hues of her skin turns from blue to yellow and orange, then red, lavender, dark grey, and finally to black. No long just ‘blue’, Blue Whale is now all the shades of the rainbow.
Blue Whale mirrors the colors of life. Her body shows the greens and blues of the sea and the yellow and oranges of the sun. If this seriously endangered Whale should pass from this earth, we will be the poorer for it. The sky, sea, and even the land would miss Blue Whale and her colors of the rainbow.
Blue Whale’s Teachings Also Include:
“On a personal level, the endangered blue whale symbolizes lack of communication, which lies at the root of most problems.” -- Copyright: “Animal Totems” by Trish MacGregor and Millie Gemondo.
Conservation note: Blue Whales are seriously endangered and may not recover. They are protected internationally by whaling treaties.
Purchase children's and adult books about blue whales from Amazon.com.
Photo of Blue Whale copyrighted by Larry Hobbs, NMML, U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Va. Carper