Name: Why are blue whales so enormous?
Uploaded: 2022-05-03T20:55:25Z
Duration: 5 min 15 s
Description: Blue whales are the largest animals on the planet, but what helps them grow to the length of a basketball court? Asha de Vos explains why the size of krill make them the ideal food for the blue whale -- it's as if the blue whale was made to eat krill (and krill was made to be eaten by the blue whale). [Directed by Cognitive Media, narrated by Asha de Vos].

Asha de Vos: Why are blue whales so enormous?

Why are blue whales so enormous?

Blue whales are the largest animals on the planet, but what helps them grow to the length of a basketball court? Asha de Vos explains why the size of krill make them the ideal food for the blue whale -- it's as if the blue whale was made to eat krill (and krill was made to be eaten by the blue whale). [Directed by Cognitive Media, narrated by Asha de Vos].

Blue whales reach lengths rivaling a basketball court and can weigh as much as 40 elephants. Their massive size is possible because they feed almost exclusively on tiny krill, consuming up to four tons daily. Special adaptations, like expandable mouths and efficient lunge feeding, let them extract nearly half a million calories per mouthful. The ocean’s buoyancy and the abundance of krill together set the stage for these giants, but physics and energy demands ultimately limit their growth.