I.

Introduction

Blue Whale, largest whale, and the largest living creature on Earth, exceeding 30 m (100 ft) in length. Blue whales belong to a fast-swimming group of baleen whales called rorquals and are found in all oceans of the world. They mainly feed on tiny shrimplike invertebrates called krill. Blue whales were hunted nearly to extinction by the 1960s and remain endangered, with only a small recovery in numbers since official protection began in 1966. The blue whale is also known as the sulfur-bottom whale and the great northern rorqual.