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November 2009
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Feature Article
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Photo Gallery
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Blue Whales Quiz
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Video: Behind the Photo
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Interactive Blue Whale
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Blue Whales Quiz
Test your knowledge of blue whales with our six-question quiz.
Managing Editor, NGM.com
Rob Covey
Sabi Chawla
Sabi Chawla
Flash Developer
Stefan Estrada
Editing and Styling
Nancy Gupton
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales1-quiz-470.jpg
Everything about the blue whale is superlative. Though some dinosaurs reached the same length, no animal has ever equaled it in bulk.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales6-quiz-470.jpg
Photograph by Flip Nicklin
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales3-quiz-470.jpg
The noselike splash guard atop a whale's head diverts water from two blowholes, each big enough for a toddler to crawl in.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales2-quiz-470.jpg
Photograph by Hiroya Minakuchi, Minden Pictures
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales4-quiz-470.jpg
Powerful flukes can propel a whale for many days without a single stop.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin
/2009/03/blue-whales/img/whales5-quiz-470.jpg
Even as a baby, a blue whale can make a grown man seem like a minnow.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin
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Excellent work. You are an expert on blue whales.
With a little work, you will be a blue whales pro.
You are off to a good start.
You may want to try again.
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Balaenoptera musculus. What does it mean? ]]>
Water elephant
Little mouse whale
Ocean titan
Mighty whale
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balaena "whale," and the Greek pteron "fin" or "wing." The species name,
musculus,
is the diminutive of the Latin
mus
, "mouse"—apparently a joke.]]>
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2 feet
10 feet
12 feet
25 feet
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2
1 foot
3 feet
10 feet
30 feet
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3
4
4
One pound a minute
Nine pounds an hour
Twenty pounds a day
Fifty pounds a day
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5
They are one of the loudest creatures on Earth.
They have excellent hearing.
They have excellent eyesight.
They can be found in every ocean on Earth.
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