The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. Blue Whales are believed to be the largest animal ever to have lived, at up to 30 metres in length and 140 tonnes or more in weight. Blue Whales were abundant in most oceans around the world up until the beginning of the twentieth century. For the first 40 years of that century they were hunted by whalers almost to extinction. Hunting of the species was outlawed by the international community in 1966. The current world population is between three and four thousand invididuals. These are located in four (or possibly five) groups. The largest is in the North-East Pacific. There are two groups in the North Atlantic and one in Antarctic waters. Blue Whales found in the Indian Ocean may or may not be part of the Antarctic group.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Whale

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1487: Impostor Lambert Simnel was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland as "King Edward VI". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_Simnel)

1626: Peter Minuit bought Manhattan in exchange for trade goods valued at 60 guilders. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit)

1822: Troops led by Antonio José de Sucre secured the independence of Quito from Spain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Jos%E9_de_Sucre)

1911: The New York Public Library opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library)

1941: World War II: The German battleship Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom." -- Bob Dylan (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan)