Talk:Blue whale

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"Caught"/"killed"[edit]

Ywaz, you do need to realize that "catch" is the standard terminology used in all wildlife harvesting (which is what whaling is, Japanese pretensions notwithstanding). We don't speak about "killing" fish either. I appreciate that whales elicit a more emotional response, but when our articles on whaling overwhelmingly use "catch", this looks incongruous at the least. --Elmidae (talk · contribs)

Female weight gain of 4% per day mathematically impossible[edit]

In the article it states "Pregnant females gain roughly four percent of their body weight daily,[86] amounting to 60% of their overall body weight throughout summer foraging periods."

However, that is clearly not right, as this would mean that female whales approximately triple/quadruple their weight every month. You can see how that would lead to bizarre situations.

I am not aware of what this figure should be or what the author was thinking when writing this. Perhaps they meant eat 4% of body weight.

Maximum confirmed length and weight[edit]

> maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes

This is inconsistent with the values in List_of_largest_mammals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_mammals#Whales_(Cetacea)

> The longest confirmed specimen was 33.58 m (110.17 ft) in length and the heaviest was 190 tonnes Iaaaaaaaan (talk) 20:06, 28 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Requested Edit[edit]

Can an editor with an account consider adding the content below to the article body:

Recent genetic studies indicate that fin whales routinely mate with blue whales, and they produce viable offspring capable of reproducing. Studies suggest that this has been due to the slow recovery rate of both species in response to whaling in the early 20th century, creating a population bottleneck encouraging interspecies mating between the two species.^[1]^[2]^[3]

References

^ Cockerill, Jess (2024-02-11). "Surprise Discovery Shows Blue Whales Have Been Mating With Another Species". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ Dier, Arden (2024-02-09). "Blue Whales Carry Surprising Levels of Another Species' DNA". Newser. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ Incorvaia, Darren (2024-01-24). "Blue Whale Genes Reveal Less Inbreeding, More Interbreeding Than Expected". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

Thanks. 24.21.161.89 (talk) 22:19, 12 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done - UtherSRG (talk) 02:14, 13 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Text/Infographic Discrepancy[edit]

The infographic says that the blue whale is threatened but the text says that it's endangered. As this is a gold star, level 4 vital article, I believe this discrepancy should be resolved on priority. 021120x (talk) 02:13, 5 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Blue Whale max weight[edit]

According to this new study a blue whale could potential reach 270 tons or more.

https://peerj.com/articles/16978/ Wilt Carter (talk) 18:16, 8 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[Cockerill_2024_t909-1] Cockerill, Jess (2024-02-11). "Surprise Discovery Shows Blue Whales Have Been Mating With Another Species". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[Dier_2024_j470-2] Dier, Arden (2024-02-09). "Blue Whales Carry Surprising Levels of Another Species' DNA". Newser. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[Incorvaia_2024_l544-3] Incorvaia, Darren (2024-01-24). "Blue Whale Genes Reveal Less Inbreeding, More Interbreeding Than Expected". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

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