Page 17 - OCEAN ARTISTS SOCIETY - WInter 2017
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gulping an enormous mouthful of water, expanding the pleated skin on their throat and belly to take it in. Then the whale’s massive tongue forces the water out through the thin, overlapping baleen plates. Thousands of krill are left behind—and then swallowed.
Blue whales look blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Their underbellies take on a yellowish hue from the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes.
BLUE WHALE FACTS:
Status: Endangered
On the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. Type: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore
Average life span in the wild: 80 to 90 years
Size: 82 to 105 ft (25 to 32 m)
Weight: Up to 200 tons (181,437 kg)
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