Whale Facts

Whales are the largest animals ever to have existed on Earth — the blue whale can reach 30 metres in length and weigh as much as 200 tonnes, dwarfing even the largest dinosaurs. Despite their size, they are mammals: they breathe air, nurse their young with milk, and maintain a warm body temperature. Whales evolved from land-dwelling ancestors roughly 50 million years ago, and vestigial hind-limb bones are still embedded deep within their bodies as evolutionary relics.

There are two main groups. Baleen whales, like the blue and humpback, filter enormous quantities of krill and small fish through comb-like plates of keratin. Toothed whales — including sperm whales, orcas, and belugas — hunt individual prey using echolocation, emitting clicks that bounce off objects and return as sound portraits of the environment. Sperm whales produce the loudest biological sound on the planet, reaching 230 decibels, and can dive to depths of over 3,000 metres in search of giant squid.

Whale communication is strikingly complex. Humpback males sing elaborate, evolving songs that can last for hours and spread across ocean basins. Orca pods pass hunting techniques between generations — a form of cultural learning. Scientists have recorded distinct dialects between orca populations that never cross-breed. Whales are also surprisingly long-lived: bowhead whales regularly surpass 200 years, making them among the oldest mammals on the planet.