Size comparison: blue whale vs human

Size comparison between blue whale and human.

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth. Then there is the argentinosaurus, the patagotitan mayorum, the paraceratherium, the shastasaurus, the spinosaurus.

Natural History :

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are between 5,000 and 15,000 blue whales on Earth. Before industrial whaling, the population was estimated at 240,000. This species is considered to be in danger of extinction.

In summer, blue whales live in cool waters at high latitudes. They mainly eat krill. In winter, they live in warmer waters found in lower latitudes. They then consume up to 10 times less food because temperate waters are much poorer in krill. They reproduce and give birth to calves in these warm waters.

We do not know very well the usefulness of their song which can reach forty hertz and last thirty seconds. It is assumed that this is to maintain a certain distance between individuals, to transmit information, to locate topographical features or to locate food resources.

Industrial whale fishing:

Man killed more than 360,000 whales (all kinds combined) in the first part of the 20th century in Antarctica alone. It is estimated that a total of more than 2.9 million whales have been killed by humans, including 563,000 in the North Pacific, 276,000 in the North Atlantic and 2 million in the Southern Hemisphere.

Countries that continue to harvest whales (all kinds) include Canada (1,000 per year), Greenland (800 per year), Norway (550 per year), Japan (400 per year), United States (400 per year), Russia (200 per year), Iceland (100 per year).

Name	Blue whale	Human
Scientific name	Balænoptera musculus	Homo sapiens
Species	Cetacean	Primate
Geologic period	Pleistocene	Neogene
Locations	Worldwide	Worldwide
Living environment	Equatorial waters	Various
Appearance	-1.5 million years	-300 thousand years
Existence	1.5 million years	300 thousand years
Height	12 feet 80 (3 meters 90)	5 feet 9 (1 meter 80)
Length	98 feet (29 meters 90)	-
Weight	199,000 kg (438,720 lbs)	85 kg (187 lbs)
Maximum speed	18.6 mph	12.5 mph
Life expectancy	90 years	75 years
Gestation period	12 months	9 months
Population	15 thousands	7.55 billion
Total generations (having lived)	-	10 thousands
Total population (having lived)	-	100.8 billion