Little Known Facts About Whales

As part of our home school adventure, I led a unit on whales. These are some of the interesting facts we learned about them.

Little Known Fact About Whales #1 ~
In Oklahoma, it is against the law to hunt whales. (Interesting, because Oklahoma is landlocked...)

Little Known Fact About Whales #2 ~
Gray whales migrate farther than any other known animal, about 12,000 miles every year.

Little Known Fact About Whales #3 ~
The blue whale's heart that weighs 1,300 lbs and only beats about ten times per minute. (By comparison, the human heart beats at least 70 times per minute.)

Little Known Fact About Whales #4 ~
The blue whale's tail can generate 500 horsepower!

Little Known Fact About Whales #5 ~
A baby blue whale drinks approximately 130 gallons of milk each day.

Little Known Fact About Whales #6 ~
Sperm whales have the largest brains in the animal kingdom.

Little Known Fact About Whales #7 ~
A blue whale's testicles are big enough for a small child to crawl through their major arteries.

Little Known Fact About Whales #8 ~
The blue whale is the fastest growing organism in all of the animal and plant kingdoms.

Little Known Fact About Whales #9 ~
The right whale doesn't sink after it's dead.

Little Known Fact About Whales #10 ~
Spermaceti oil (made from the sperm whale) was used as transmission oil in the Rolls-Royce.

Little Known Fact About Whales #11 ~
The blue whale can whistle up to 188 decibels; they are the loudest animals on Earth.

Little Known Fact About Whales #12 ~
A whale's penis is called a dork.

Little Known Fact About Whales #13 ~
Killer whales travel in groups, breathing in unison.

Little Known Fact About Whales #14 ~
Humpback whales are also known as 'singing whales'.

Little Known Fact About Whales #15 ~
A blue whale's tongue weighs more than a whole elephant, and is large enough for fifty people to stand on it.

Little Known Fact About Whales #16 ~
Blue Whales are the largest mammal on earth.

Little Known Fact About Whales #17 ~
The whales in the movie 'Star Trek IV; The Voyage Home' were actually four foot long animatronic models. The models were so realistic that fishing authorities publically criticized the film makers for getting too close to whales in the wild. The scenes involving the whales were actually shot in a highschool's swimming pool.

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