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Marine Mammals

Antarctic Whales Much, much larger than killer whales, but almost completely harmless to other mammals is the blue whale.TheAntarctic spe- cies of blue whale is probably the largest animal ever to live on the earth. Blues can be more than 80 feet (24 m) long and weigh an estimated 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg).Yet they eat only tiny shrimp and krill or small fish. Blue whales’ mouths contain huge sheets of a strong, thin material called baleen. Hanging in strips inside the jaws, the baleen acts as a sieve or a strainer.The whale gulps huge mouthfuls of water.As the water passes through the

Even though blue whales are so enormous, this is the most that can usually be seen— the blowhole as the whale surfaces to breathe.