{"id":6828,"date":"2012-07-09T10:28:20","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T14:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=6828"},"modified":"2012-07-09T10:45:26","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T14:45:26","slug":"blue-whales-sighting-off-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=6828","title":{"rendered":"Blue Whales sighting off California"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever seen pictures of a submarine, while it was underwater?
\nLong and sleek, like cylindrical tubes, blue whales are are the largest animal to be known to live on earth and are the largest mammal in the world.<\/p>\n

When born, the calf can weigh as much as one ton, gaining as much as 200 lbs a day during its first year. The gestation period for the female blue whale is approx 11 months.<\/p>\n

Blue whales are found in all our oceans, traveling alone or in small groups. They travel to regions that provide food or nursing their new born, known as a calf. During the summer months, they may be found in the arctic. As winter arrives, they migrate south towards the equator and can be found around the Baja California peninsula, a peninsula in northwestern Mexico.<\/p>\n

One of the primary foods for the blue whale is krill, tiny shrimp that travel in the millions. The mouth of the blue whale contains a screen like structure (baleen) ,\u00a0\"baleen-whale-5\" a form of a screen that allow for the filtering of their food. The\u00a0Baleen<\/strong> or whalebone<\/strong> is a filter system found inside the mouths of baleen whales<\/a>. The baleen system works when a whale opens its mouth underwater, water rushes in. The whale then forces the water out, where animals such as krill<\/a> are filtered by the baleen and remain as food source for the whale. Baleen is similar to bristles<\/a> and is made of keratin<\/a>, the same substance found in human fingernails and hair. Blue whales can eat 3 to 7 metric tons a krill a day.<\/p>\n

There a a few creatures on earth that pose a threat to the blue whale, as large as they may become. One of these threats are killer whales and of course man. Commercial whaling has threatened the baleen whales for centuries. Whale oil, make by heating a whales blubber, was known as “liquid Gold,” and could be used in everything thing. Makeup, lamps and food were some of the most common.<\/p>\n


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