Blue Whales are the largest living animal on earth – not just currently, but EVER in the history of the world. They are bigger than elephants, than mastadons. bigger than brontosaurus. The rolling back of a blue whale emerges from the water like a new penisula. They spout heights of 30 feet. If they lived on land their massive weight would be impossible to bear, but their unmatched bulk is maintained with the smallest of food.
This food is abundant right now in Monterey Bay, and blue whales are being seen every day, usually in groups. Krill are considered (brace yourselves) a Keystone Species because they are so essential to the diet of so many creatures, and because they themselves feed on the smallest plankton, seamlessly tying our oceans together. (Clearly our keystone species is way better, because who would ever have a krill festival?) (Ahem, blue whales! that’s who!) The bloom of krill is also bringing humpback, dolphin, squid, even birds. This excellent graphic is from the Sacramento Bee which had an outstanding article this weekend about the blue whale extravaganza going on right now.
I went searching for some youtube glimpses of these remarkable animals. Most are filled with the kind of gasping human noises that one associates with the sighting of rare wildlife. Whale watching boats are frantically adding tours to make space for more people to see them. People are flocking in droves to experience the splendor. I particularly liked the stunned silence of this one: a zodiak driver alone who was clearly not expecting company. Listen all the way until the fluke emerges. (Youtube is being wonky today, but keep trying, honest).
Because of their massive size Blue Whales were too big to be hurt by the whaling industry until relatively late. Sail boats and harpoons were no match for them. There were once 350,000 thought to roam every ocean in the world. In the late 1800’s, a clever Norwegian came up with the exploding harpoon gun, and the macabrely pragmatic idea of filling the bodies of dead large whales with air so they wouldn’t sink the boat. Blue Whales didn’t become the target of choice until 1900, but in a trim 30 years 99% of their population was destroyed. Now the numbers hover around 8000-10,000.
The good news is that the killing stopped, and these remarkable animals seem to be doing okay. If you have a chance to sneak away to Monterey this week you might want to go see for yourself.
