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Balaenoptera musculus   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blue whale

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Balaenoptera musculus  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Balaenoptera musculus

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Balaenopteridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 75906); depth range 80 - 500 m (Ref. 1005).  Polar; 90°N - 90°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

North Atlantic and North Pacific: Balaenoptera musculus musculus.

North Atlantic [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): VU, D1] and North Pacific [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): LR/cd.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 3,300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 99323); max. published weight: 160.0 t (Ref. 1394)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The largest whales of the world's oceans. They can be seen from the equator to the pack ice edges in both hemispheres, with most poleward intrusions in both hemispheres in summer. Some are resident, others are migratory. Feeds on krill (Ref. 1394). Feeds at depths less than 100 m (Ref. 1005). From the time faster catcher boats and explosive harpoons made them catchable, blue whales were hunted relentlessly from the late 19th through the mid 20th centuries. As the largest whales, they were the most sought after of the rorquals. Although most populations remain well below pre-exploitation levels, some stocks (such as those that feed off California) have shown encouraging signs of recovery since protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1965. At least in the eastern North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific, numbers appear to be on the rise (Ref. 1394). In general, they occur in coastal, shelf, and oceanic waters (Ref. 122680). They can be seen from the equator to the pack ice edges in both hemispheres, with most poleward intrusions in both hemispheres in summer. Some are resident, others are migratory (Ref. 1394). Known as 'gulpers,' feeding in separate events, often lunging at large schools of fish (Ref. 122680). Feeds on krill (Ref. 1394). Feeds at depths less than 100 m (Ref. 1005).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A1abd); Date assessed: 16 March 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)


CMS (Ref. 116361)


Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.2 - 3.3, mean 1.6 (based on 32832 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.08-0.09; tm=11).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (79 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.