Grasping the size of a blue whale is enough to take anyone’s breath away. Remember this is not only the largest animal on earth but the largest animal to ever live on this planet!
With an average weight of 200 tons and a length that equals about 5 school buses lined up, it’s hard to think this animal could ever be a cute little baby.
However, you must remember whales are mammals after all so just like you and me, the mighty blue whale also went through all the cute and awkward phases associated with growing up. So how big is the offspring of such a colossal creature?
Stick around as today I will answer how big is a baby blue whale, as well as a full-grown one, how fast this baby giant grows, how much it weighs at birth, and much more!
How Big Is A Baby Blue Whale?
According to the Internation Whaling Commission (IWC), a baby blue whale, or blue whale calf, is born with a minimum length of 6 m / 20 feet. If you can’t really picture this size let me tell you that an average school bus measures exactly that!
Imagine being as large as a school bus the moment you are born!
If you haven’t seen a school bus in a while think of a regular UPS truck and the next time you see one go stand next to it so you get an idea of what it would look like to be next to a newborn blue whale.
If this fact hasn’t rocked your socks yet I will go ahead and let you know that the cute little blue whale that was just born weighs at least 2 tons!
That’s about 20 baby elephants or a 2020 Honda Pilot SUV. Nevertheless, this behemoth of a baby has a long way to go, and a lot of growing to do.
It could take a blue whale anywhere between 5 and 15 years to become fully mature.
How Big Is A Full Grown Blue Whale?
A full-grown blue whale weighs about 200 tons on average, so it’s about 100 times bigger than a newborn calf. When it comes to length the majestic giant of the seas reaches around 33 m / 108 feet which is longer than a professional basketball court.
An animal so massive also has enormous organs and appendages.
For example, a blue whale’s tongue reaches an average weight of 2,700 kg / 5,952 lbs. (2.7 tons) which is the same as an adult female elephant.
As for its length, it reaches 5.5 m / 18 feet which is roughly the height of an adult giraffe.
And moving on to a vital organ such as the heart I want to let you know that it’s the same size as a Volkswagen beetle and with a weight of 454 kg / 1,000 lbs. It’s as heavy as an adult dairy cow!
If this isn’t enough to make your jaw reach the floor a small human adult could swim through the arteries of a full-grown blue whale.
How Fast Do Baby Blue Whales Grow?
Blue whale babies grow extremely fast! Just during its first year, a baby will put on 90 kg / 200 lbs EACH DAY.
This means that when the baby blue whale celebrates its first trip around the sun it will already be almost 33 tons heavier than when it was born.
If you’re wondering what kind of food needs to be eaten to grow this much I will rock your world one more time and tell you that mama whale feeds this little rascal exclusively with mother’s milk.
And now it’s time for another shocker, the amount of milk consumed by the baby blue whale per day is 50 gallons / 190 liters.
This milk is also incredibly rich as it is comprised of about 40% fat and 13% protein. In contrast, human breast milk is only about 4% fat and 1% protein.
Oh and a baby blue whale fun fact: They put on 4.5 kg / 10 lbs. of weight within their first HOUR of life!
When Do Baby Blue Whales Reach Full Size?
It may take a blue whale anywhere between five and 15 years to reach its full size.
How Much Does a Baby Blue Whale Weigh?
At birth, a baby blue whale can weigh anywhere between 2,000 – 3,000 kg / 4,409 – 6,614 lbs. This equals 2 – 3 tons. Every single day during its first year of life a baby blue whale will gain 90 kg / 200 lbs.
If you do some simple math you will see that blue whale calves born weighing 2,000 kg / 4,409 lbs (2 tons) will celebrate their first year weighing an impressive 35,000 kgs / 77,161 lbs (35 tons).
Babies that tip the scale at 3,000 kg / 4,409 lbs (3 tons) at birth will blow out their birthday candles at 36,000 kg / 79,366 lbs. (36 tons).
How Big Is A Baby Blue Whale?
The length of a newborn baby blue whale can be between 6 – 7 m / 20 – 23 feet which makes it about the same length as an average yellow school bus or a Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII.
If motor vehicles aren’t your thing I want you to go ahead and picture national treasure Danny DeVito (who stands at a height of 1.5 m / 4.9 feet).
Now imagine 5 Danny DeVito’s stacked up one on top of the other and you have the average length of a newborn blue whale calf.
And if you’re more into sports go ahead and picture 3.5 Michael Jordans one on top of the other and you will be looking at the length of a newborn baby blue whale.
Final Thoughts
It’s not really a shocker to think that the largest animal to ever inhabit our planet would have a giant offspring, however, thinking about the fact that the second a baby blue whale is born it’s already bigger than most animals in the world is definitely mindblowing.
I hope that you have enjoyed learning about the biggest, and quite possibly cutest, newborn baby in the world and will continue to join me in discovering more about the awesome creatures swimming through the seas.
See you next time!
I am a lover of everything nature and animal related with over 15 years of experience in the field of wildlife rescue and education. Currently living in Colombia working with wild and domestic animals and spending all my free time writing about them 🙂