blue whale

Blue whale ( Scientific name : Balaenoptera musculus ; also known as: giant whale or giant blue whale ) — a species of small whale , belonging to the giant whale family . As far as is known, the blue whale is the heaviest animal that has ever existed on Earth ^[2] : its length is 34 meters , and its weight can reach 177 tons . It eats mostly krill .

Blue whales were common until the beginning of the 20th century in most of the Earth's oceans . In the first 40 years of that century, the population was fatally damaged as a result of uncontrolled whaling and practically reached its final extinction . The danger of extinction decreased, but did not disappear after the international community declared the hunting of blue whales illegal in 1966 . According to the 2002 report , the size of the world population is 12,000 to 15,000 ^[3], divided into five main populations living in different regions. The blue whale is currently classified as a species under constant threat of disappearance ^[4] .

Before mass hunting, the main population of blue whales was concentrated in the Antarctic region and its surroundings (from 202,000 to 311,000 individuals) ^[5] , but today the population in this area is only about 2,000 individuals. In addition to this population in Antarctica, there are at least two other populations of blue whales in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and at least two more in the Southern Hemisphere .