The blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed, measuring up to 30 meters long and weighing up to 180 tons. It was abundant worldwide until commercial whaling in the early 20th century drove the species nearly extinct. International protections in 1966 allowed blue whale populations to slowly recover, with estimates of 5,000 to 12,000 whales worldwide in 2002 spread across five groups, though still much smaller than pre-whaling concentrations such as 239,000 in the Antarctic. The Californian population has rebounded close to its pre-hunting level as of 2014.

1. Blue whale

2. The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is
a marine mammal belonging to the baleen
whales (Mysticeti). It’s 30 meters length and
180 tons in weight (or more), it is the largest
extant animal and it’s the heaviest known
that have existed

3. Long and slender, the blue whale's
body can be various shades of
bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat
lighter underneath. There are at
least three distinct subspecies.

4.
Blue whales were abundant in nearly
all the oceans on Earth until the
beginning of the twentieth century. For
over a century, they were hunted
almost to extinction by whalers until
they were protected by the
international community in 1966.

5. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000
to 12,000 blue whales worldwide, in at
least five groups. Before whaling, the
largest population was in the Antarctic,
numbering approximately 239,000
(range 202,000 to 311,000). There remain
only much smaller (around 2,000)
concentrations in each of the eastern
North Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian
Ocean groups. There are two more
groups in the North Atlantic, and at least
two in the Southern Hemisphere. As of
2014, the Californian blue whale
population has rebounded to nearly its
pre-hunting population.

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