The Size of Whales Trivia Quiz

If you are ever lucky enough to see a blue whale (even just a skeleton) then you can't help but be impressed by its sheer vastness. It is the largest animal that has ever lived for which we have any evidence. They grow up to 33 metres in length (110 feet) and weigh in at a mighty 150 tons. The female is generally ten per cent bigger than the male. The extra size is because of the extra blubber required for the necessary energy to feed their calves, who are already six to seven metres long at birth.

Despite their considerable size, the blue whale can reach speeds of over 30 km/h.

Second only to the blue whale, the largest fin whale recorded was around 26 metres in length with a weight of more than 70 tons. Its name comes from a very prominent fin on its lower back.

The fin whale is a baleen whale, which means it is a filter feeder, using a brush plate rather than teeth. As such its prey is small because it has to swallow what it eats whole but it can eat up to 1.8 tons of food a day. Its great speed (around 40km/h) is therefore not so it can catch its prey but has probably developed to avoid its only known predator, the orca.

The right whale has a distinctive shape compared to other whales and also develops large white callouses on its head. Its lack of a dorsal fin is not unique but reflects its habitat of colder northern waters (although it heads to warmer climes in mating season). The dorsal fin tends to lose body heat and also makes it harded to navigate under ice.

The North Atlantic right whale grows to 16 metres long and weighs between 45 - 75 tons.

The humpback whale grows to an average length of around 15 metres and weighs 40 tons. They are very active at the surface and their name comes not from the shape of their back but from the way they bend when breaching.

The male humpback's song is renowned for its complexity. Though the singing occurs during breeding season, the exact reason for the songs is unknown as they do not appear to serve the purpose of attracting a mate or competing with other males.

The humpback uses bubble-net feeding to catch its prey. They will come together as a pod of whales and circle their prey. They blow bubbles from their blowholes as they circle creating a net that the fish cannot escape.

The gray whale, which grows to nearly 15 metres in length and weighs in at around 40 tons, was an abundant species across the Pacific ocean and there are historical records of it having been present in Atlantic waters too.

However, it has been hunted for hundreds of years for its meat and its oil and as commercial whaling began in the mid-19th century on both sides of the Pacific, its survival became endangered. The Atlantic population is believed to have become extinct in the 18th century and the number in the Pacific was decimated. Its nickname of "devil fish" comes from its aggressive attitude when it was under harpoon attack.

In 2016, the number of western Pacific whales was estimated at just 200 and the Pacific Northwest whales were seen as critically endangered. Thankfully, by this time, through conservation efforts and a ban on commercial whaling of the gray, the population off the California coast has recovered to levels that mean it is no longer considered to be in danger.

The common minke size of seven to ten metres in length makes it the second smallest of the baleen whales. This is small by whale standards but still the size of a 10-wheel truck. At up to seven tons, it is a similar weight to an African elephant. The minke gets its name from a Norwegian whale spotter called Meincke who mistook the whale for a blue whale.

The common minke ranges across the whole of the northern hemisphere and all its major oceans. There is a related southern hemisphere whale called the pygmy minke. Both have a distinctive shape to their body with a greater height relative to its length than any other whale and a very prominent dorsal fin. They are very streamlined and can reach speeds of up to 40km/h.

A study of minke whales by Stanford University scientists in 2023, discovered that baleen whales that feed through filtering creatures from large amounts of gulped water, have to have a minimum size of 4.5 metres to be able to take in enough food to survive.

Probably the best known "whale" that is not actually a whale. The orca is the largest species of dolphin and, unlike most whales, it is the male that is the larger of the sexes, with a size of six to eight metres in length and a weight of six tons.

Orca are very effective group predators and will feed on a wide range of marine species, including some species of whale. It will feed on the minke, sperm and humpback and have even been known to take on and kill blue whales.

The beluga, which averages three to five metres in length and weighs up to 1,600kg, is the only whale that is commonly white (rather than having a few rare white-coloured examples). It is related to the narwhal, the only other living monodontid. Adapted to the Arctic environment, its white colour acts as a camouflage protection against predators and its lack of a dorsal fin allows it to swim freely under ice.

As its family name ( Monodontidae) suggests, it is a toothed whale, allowing it to have a vary varied diet as an opportunistic feeder.

Until 1998, the dwarf sperm whale was classified as the same animal as the pygmy sperm whale, but is now recognised as a separate species. At just 2-2.7 metres long and weighing up to 270kg, it is over one metre shorter than the average pygmy.

The dwarf sperm whale lives in tropical waters across the globe and feeds on squid. It is rarely observed in the wild; sadly most of what we know about the whale comes from examination of the frequent beached individuals around the world.

The pygmy killer whale name comes from its similar looks to the orca but the two are not related. The pygmy, as its name suggests, is considerably smaller, reaching a length of two metres and weighing just 225 kg.

Sightings of it in the wild are extremely rare. It was first known about after the discovery of skull in the early 19th century but wasn't recorded as being seen in the wild until 1954. As a consequence, estimating their numbers is difficult but with known stocks off Hawaii, in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic, their conservation status is considered healthy.