The eyes of a blue whale are small, often being described as grapefruit-sized. And, to top it off, their eyesight is regarded to be poor, and they can only perceive things in shades of gray. They have no eyelashes or tear glands.
A whale’s eye isn’t very small compared to other animals’ eyeballs, but it is out of proportion for a creature of its size. They are also said to be the size of a cow’s eye, which is surprising—or perhaps not, given that they use sounds for underwater navigation.
What is a Blue Whale?
The Blue Whale is the largest in the world. It can grow to be up to 30 meters long and weigh over 200 tonnes. Being the largest animal, they are also the loudest with their calls being able to reach up to 188 decibels. They’re typically blue-gray with mottled markings.
What Do Blue Whales Eat?
Krills or the tiny little shrimp-like creatures make up the majority of the Blue Whale’s diet. A blue whale can eat up to 4 tons of krill in a day. Krills are so important to their diet that they have specialized filters in their mouths through baleen plates that help them to sieve out the krill from the water.
How do Blue Whales Find Food?
Blue whales are filter feeders, constantly opening their mouths wide while swimming with their baleen plates to sieve krill and other tiny prey from the water.
They have a series of fringed plates hanging from their upper jaw that they use to filter krill and small fish from the water as part of the baleen whales.
Are Blue Whales a threat to Humans?
Blue Whales cannot eat humans and have never been known to attack a human. Instead, they are very gentle giants that mostly eat krill and other small fish.
Blue Whales are more threatened by humans than we are by them. Sadly, they are endangered due to commercial whaling that involves harvesting them for their meat, oil, and other body parts. The International Whaling Commission has put a moratorium on commercial whaling in an attempt to protect them, but they are still being killed illegally.
Conclusion
Blue Whales have small eyes, often compared to grapefruits. They can only see things in shades of gray and have no eyelashes or tear glands. The Blue Whale is the largest animal in the world and feeds on krill.
These majestic creatures are not a threat to humans and are endangered due to commercial whaling. If ever you’re lucky enough to see a Blue Whale in the wild, be sure to keep your distance and enjoy the experience.
