- The blue whale's heart is the largest in the world, weighing close to a ton. However, the heart of the baleen whale is relatively much smaller than that of toothed whales.
- The blue whale's lower jaw is the widest relative to the head width among other baleen whales. It curves outward and extends forward beyond the tip of the snout by 15–30 cm.
- The blue whale's dorsal fin is the smallest among baleen whales. Its length is about 1 % of body length, maximum 35 cm. The fin edges, especially the rear ones, are covered with scratches forming an individual pattern.
- The blue whale's lower jaw can weigh so much that it is difficult for the whale to close its mouth. Measurements of a 150-ton blue whale 29 m long showed its mouth could hold 32.6 m³ of water.
- The blue whale strongly bends its body, lowering its head, to dive deeply. The highest point at this time becomes the part of the back with the fin, when the head and front part of the back are already underwater.
- The throat ridges of the blue whale allow the mouth to stretch very strongly, and the movable joint of the lower jaw enhances this property. The throat ridges and the lower jaw bone joint ensure a sharp increase in mouth volume.
- Fat in the blue whale accounts for up to 31 t of its total body mass of 108.6 t. The thickness of the fat layer reaches 30 cm, more than in other baleen whales.
- The blue whale has longitudinal stripes on the lower part of the head and on the belly, which help the throat stretch greatly when swallowing water with food. The blue whale usually has 55–68 and even 80–90 such stripes.
- Each side of the upper jaw of a blue whale has between 260 and 400 plates, totaling 540–790 plates, sometimes over 800. It has the most plates of any whale, with a record of 800.
- The fringes on the blue whale’s baleen plates are quite rough and rigid, adapted for feeding on large crustaceans. Smooth whales, which feed on small planktonic crustaceans, have fine and elastic fringes.
- The volume of the blue whale’s lungs is about 2.5 % of its body weight. This is three times less than in humans, where it equals 7.1 %.
- The blue whale's stomach can hold up to 1.5 tons of food. A tightly filled blue whale stomach can hold up to 1 ton of food and even up to 1.5 tons.
表型蓝鲸
在这里我们介绍蓝鲸的外貌，以及毛色如何随年龄变化。
蓝鲸：它是怎样的