Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Balaenopteridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 75906); depth range 80 - 500 m (Ref. 1005). Polar; 90°N - 90°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

North Atlantic and North Pacific: Balaenoptera musculus musculus.

North Atlantic [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): VU, D1] and North Pacific [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): LR/cd.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 3,300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 99323); max. published weight: 160.0 t (Ref. 1394)

The largest whales of the world's oceans. They can be seen from the equator to the pack ice edges in both hemispheres, with most poleward intrusions in both hemispheres in summer. Some are resident, others are migratory. Feeds on krill (Ref. 1394). Feeds at depths less than 100 m (Ref. 1005). From the time faster catcher boats and explosive harpoons made them catchable, blue whales were hunted relentlessly from the late 19th through the mid 20th centuries. As the largest whales, they were the most sought after of the rorquals. Although most populations remain well below pre-exploitation levels, some stocks (such as those that feed off California) have shown encouraging signs of recovery since protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1965. At least in the eastern North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific, numbers appear to be on the rise (Ref. 1394).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Endangered (EN) (A1abd); Date assessed: 16 March 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix I: International trade banned

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix I: Endangered migratory species

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Trophic Ecology

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Ecology

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Life cycle

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Distribution

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Human Related

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Taxonomy

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Synonyms
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References

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.2 - 3.3, mean 1.6 (based on 32832 cells).

Resilience (Ref. 69278): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.08-0.09; tm=11).

Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (84 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758)