Blue whale is the largest animal in the world.It is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. Its scientific name is Balaenoptera musculus.Blue whale’s size is at up to 32.9 metres (108 ft) in length and 172 metric tons (190 short tons) or more in weight.Blue whales are difficult to weigh because of their size. Most blue whales killed by whalers were not weighed whole, but cut up into manageable pieces first. This caused an underestimate of the total weight of the whale, due to the loss of blood and other fluids. Nevertheless, measurements between 150–170 metric tons (170–190 short tons) were recorded of animals up to 27 metres (89 ft) in length. The weight of a 30 metres (98 ft) individual is believed by the American National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) to be in excess of 180 metric tons (200 short tons). The largest blue whale accurately weighed by NMML scientists to date was a female that weighed 177 metric tons (195 short tons).It is the largest animal ever to have existed.
