In 2019, a strange incident occurred in the Nordic sea, a 20-meter-long female blue whale was actually bitten alive by 23 fierce killer whales, and the blood stained the entire sea red, making people shudder.
Killer whale swarms
About the blue whale, this amazing creature
1. Body type
Blue whales are the largest animals in the world, with a body length of more than 30 meters, a weight of up to 180 tons, heavier than 40 elephants combined, a heart like a car, a tongue larger than a rhinoceros, and a true behemoth.
Blue whales also eat at least 8,000 pounds of fish and shrimp a day to fill their stomachs, which is the largest food in the ocean, but the blue whale's esophagus is very narrow, so it can only swallow smaller fish and shrimp.
It is worth mentioning that although the blue whale eats an amazing amount, after they die, they will return all the "energy" accumulated in their lives to the ocean, because once the blue whale dies, their bodies will sink to the bottom of the sea and form an ecosystem that can last for 100 years, that is, the legendary "whale fall".
2. Strength
Blue whales are the most powerful animals on the planet, because their size is too large, a full 10 meters longer than other large whales, such a physical advantage, so that blue whales have a very strong explosion.
According to zoologists, an adult blue whale can emit 1500-1700 horsepower, which is simply the Hercules in the ocean, and the water column that the blue whale spews out when breathing can reach 10 meters high and can be seen thousands of meters away.
In addition, the tail of the blue whale is also very strong, the strength of the full blow can reach 1000 kPa, this power even the elephant can easily shoot to death, so in the ocean, adult blue whales have no natural enemies, some animals do not even have the courage to face them, which shows how strong the strength of the blue whale is.
Blue whale tail
3. Speed
Although the blue whales are more than 30 meters long, they do not affect their speed at all, because the blue whales have an extremely outstanding streamlined body and strong fins, making the blue whale swim extremely fast, which is a strong swimmer in the ocean.
According to marine zoologists, an adult blue whale can reach a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, which is almost the same speed as a killer whale, and the blue whale's endurance is also very strong, and it can stay at a high speed for 1-2 hours, which is incredible.
Not only that, the blue whale's rapid speed and huge body make them extremely terrible impact, such an impact is equivalent to a small battleship, and once other animals are hit, they will be broken without dying.
4. Lethality
There are two kinds of whales in the world, namely toothed whales and baleen whales, which are both marine overlords and highly effective creatures, of which toothed whales have the strongest predatory ability, while baleen whales have poor predation ability.
The blue whale is a kind of baleen whale, they do not have the sharp teeth of killer whales, and they do not actively attack the large animals in the ocean, but this does not mean that the blue whale is very lethal.
On the contrary, blue whales are far more lethal than killer whales, because they have two very deadly weapons, namely their fins and tails, which are very flexible and can maximize the power of blue whales, and this power is enough to shoot killer whales directly to death, which is very frightening.
5. Defense
The blue whale's defense is also very strong, because the blue whale is a thick-skinned animal, the skin thickness is about 5-10 cm, and there is a thick layer of fat under the skin, up to 50 cm thick, such a thickness makes the blue whale inherently invincible.
Not only that, but there are also a large number of barnacles parasitic on the skin of blue whales, which are so hard that even killer whales cannot break through defenses, and even their teeth will be broken when they bite, which can be said to be more than worth the loss.
Most importantly, the blue whale's "round and rolling" body makes killer whales and other predators unable to use force at all, at most biting a little skin, so the blue whale has become the "big brother" in the ocean.
6. IQ
In the face of whales, zoologists have always wondered, that is, blue whales are so huge, their brains must be very huge, so why don't blue whales produce intelligence like humans?
Finally, after years of research, zoologists finally found that what hindered blue whales from becoming intelligent creatures was their huge body, because the brain of blue whales was not high compared to the proportion of the entire body, and they were large enough to dominate the sea, so they gradually "gave up thinking", resulting in the inability to evolve.
However, compared with other animals, blue whales have a high IQ, and their perception is also excellent, especially juvenile blue whales, once in danger, they will make a distress sound, while other adult blue whales within 10 kilometers will generally come to the rescue and defend against enemy attacks together if they hear a distress sound.
So, what if killer whales and great white sharks come to bite it?
1. Killer whales only dare to attack juvenile blue whales and female whales
In recent years, marine zoologists have observed a total of 16 incidents of killer whale swarms attacking blue whales, of which 6 were successful, and the rest all failed, and in 6 cases of successful predation, the blue whales were under 15 meters in size, indicating that the killer whale swarms preyed on juvenile blue whales and female whales.
After all, only from the size of the body we can see that killer whales to prey on blue whales is still very difficult, even if the killer whale is a social animal, but in the face of such a disparity in size of the opponent, still powerless, just like the African hyena herd against the elephant, in the face of absolute strength, the number is not superior.
2. Great white sharks do not dare to take a shot at the blue whale
Because killer whales usually hunt in groups, so when female whales encounter killer whales, they usually choose to flee, after all, killer whales are a kind of "bullying soft and afraid of hard" creatures, they can't beat male blue whales, so they specially pick small blue whales to start.
But the great white shark is not the same, their body length is less than 6 meters, not as big as the juvenile blue whale, the teeth are also very short, it is impossible to bite the skin of the blue whale, and the great white shark is a solitary animal, even the group fight can not make it out.
Therefore, once the great white shark encounters the blue whale, it will obediently avoid, after all, being slapped by the tail of the blue whale is not a joke, so they will not attack the blue whale at will.
All in all:
Although the body length of blue whales is more than 20 meters, their speed is not slow at all, the general animals can not catch up, and the combat effectiveness is extremely strong, and the adult is even more invincible,Even the killer whale swarm does not dare to easily provoke, only dare to bully and bully the juvenile blue whale, as for the great white shark, it is even more incomparable with the blue whale, and the difference in combat effectiveness is too great.
So, what do you think about blue whales and killer whales?