Marine mammals “have to find a happy medium between getting enough food and producing enough body heat,” says study leader William Gearty, an ecologist at Stanford University. Previously, researchers believed that marine mammals could be so large because the buoyancy of water frees them from the constraints of gravity.

Do whales produce milk? The need for milk is an essential part of the development of any young mammal, and being aquatic makes breastfeeding considerably harder. Nursing their young with milk is one of the things that defines mammals, so whales definitely do have mammary glands and they do produce milk.

Whale’s milk, not used for human consumption, is one of the highest-fat milks. It contains, on average, 10.9% protein, 42.3% fat, and 2.0% lactose, and supplies 443 kcal of energy per 100 grams.

The scientists think this is because it’s too chilly to survive in the ocean as a warm-blooded animal without sufficient size. The amount of heat your body can generate depends on how many cells you have, and small animals simply don’t have enough to replace the heat they lose to the water.

Stronger upwelling created the right conditions for baleen whale prey, such as krill and forage fish, to become concentrated in dense patches along coastlines. Whales that fed on these prey resources could forage efficiently and predictably, allowing them to grow larger.

We now understand that whale gigantism is tied closely to two things: one, their choice of prey, and two, the coincidence of their evolution with a global increase in the upwelling of nutrient-rich water from the depths of the ocean.

How do right whales size up? North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are big, but they’re not the biggest whales. That distinction goes to the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal on Earth. The orca’s (Orcinus orca) size of up to 31 feet (9.4 meters) makes it the largest dolphin.

130,000 – 150,000 kgAdult

200 litres

Ambergris is a richly scented luxury product that’s worth its weight in gold. It’s also whale poo. The ambergris eventually passes through the whale’s intestines and out into the sea. It may sound gross, but to some folks, this poo is gastronomic gold. Ambergris might be best known as a high-end perfume ingredient.

Perfumers covet a rare kind of whale poop known as ambergris. Though it develops in the intestine of sperm whales, it produces a prized scent used in high-end fragrances. You see, for centuries, perfumers have been using ambergris to enhance their fragrances.

Whales excrete plumes of liquid feces which are flocculent in nature, i.e., consisting of “a loose aggregation of particles, fluffy or woolly in nature”. The feces may be ejected underwater but comes to the surface where it floats until it disassociates. Flatulence has been recorded in whales.