Blue Whales are magnificent creatures. If you are looking for adventure, one of the best places to view them from a boat out of Southern California. Whale watching trips depart regularly from San Diego, Los Angeles, Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Barbara.

Blue Whales are the biggest animals ever to live on the face of the earth ” much larger than the largest dinosaurs that roamed the earth 200 million years ago. These mega-whales have have been scientifically weighed at nearly 200 tons – an amazing ten tons more than a DC-10 commercial airliner. By comparison, the largest elephants only weigh about six tons – 30 times less than a Blue Whale! Scientists have measured Blue Whales at more than one hundred feet long where by comparison the largest dinosaur skeletons you will find in museums are no more than 90 feet long.

There are many myths about these creatures, one is that the heartbeat can be heard for 20 miles which is ridiculous because nobody can even hear a Blue Whale heartbeat from ten feet away.

A fun fact is that the tiniest seabird in the world, a Cassins Auklet has the same diet as the the largest animal in the world. Both eat the same food: a tiny shrimp-like crustacean called krill. Blue Whales have a series of rods and plates called baleen (in place of teeth). Instead of chewing their food they strain krill from the water and swallow them whole – more than three tons every day.

Blue Whales sometimes cross-breed with Fin Whales which are the second largest animals on earth. At least four of these unique hybrid whales exhibiting characteristics of each parent have been documented by scientists by analyzing DNA.

Blue Whales are often found alone or with one other Blue Whale. We do not know for sure how long Blue Whale pairs might stay together because it is so difficult to track them as they cross entire oceans. Blue Whales can rarely be found in groups 45 whales if there is a lot of food (krill) in the area – however this is very rare because they do not usually form large pods like some other species of whales.

Blue Whales are very strong swimmers and usually travel at 12 miles per hour. When they are excited they have been clocked at 30 miles per hour!

Blue Whales are known to inhabit oceans all over the world. They are especially attracted to Pacific Ocean waters off California and Mexico which can host up to 30% of the worlds entire population during the warmer spring and summer months due to the excellent supply of food.

Blue Whales are found all over the world in both cold and warm waters. Its not known for certain where they breed and give birth, but is suspected to be in warmer waters. Feeding has been documented in temperate, tropical and polar waters.

In the 1800′s there were hundreds of thousands of Blue Whales all over the world. Then man developed weapons such as guns and exploding harpoons an proceeded to nearly eliminate these wonderful animals in the early twentieth century. Blue Whales were hunted mercilessly for 40 years until they were nearly extinct. Protection began in 1966 and their population is slowly recovering with perhaps 6,000 to 8,000 Blue Whales left worldwide today.

Terry Hunefeld retired from a CEO career in 2007 to pursue his passion of sailing the ocean to observe birds and marine mammals. He and his wife Ann own the lovely Inn at Moonlight Beach on the Pacific Ocean of San Diego. If you would like to stay at a Del Mar Bed and Breakfast or a Bed and Breakfast in Carlsbad, be sure to check out Inn at Moonlight Beach.

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