The largest animals to ever exist throughout the history of life on planet Earth are alive today, right now, in our oceans: Blue Whales. How did these majestic giants get so big?
Learn about blue whales with this American Museum of Natural History video, part one of the museum’s four-part Giants of the Sea series.
What’s so great about being big? You can move faster and farther, you can avoid predators, and you can have a longer lifespan…
Body size is one of the most important factors in determining how an organism functions and interacts with its environment. Scientists are studying the blue whale to understand how it evolved to such a large size and what lessons it might hold for protecting the species in the future.
Questions and facts about these endangered animals are discussed by Jeremy Goldbogen, Assistant Professor of Biology at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, David Cade, a Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Marine Sciences, and Hopkins Ph.D. student Shirel Kahane-Rapport.
Related reading: Rorquals.
Watch more videos about blue whales on TKSST:
• A blue whale lunges for krill
• What Color Is a Blue Whale? Our history with this mysterious ocean giant
• What is the Biggest Organism on Earth?
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