Blue Whale Takes 3 Breaths then Dives off Santa Barbara, CA

[kirbysir675]

how do you know tat was a blue whale it looks smaller than usual u probably seen something else

[oceanspot]

This whale was farther away from the boat than you can tell in the video, but the tell-tale signs that it was a blue whale are 1) size, 2) dorsal fin, 3) blow/spout, 4) behavior at surface 5) breathing pattern, 6) mottled blue/gray skin color and 7) shape of rostrum.

[powerpup97]

Wow. You got to see a blue whale in real life! That had to be an amazing experience!

[oceanspot]

I feel very lucky to have seen blue whales in the wild! It's a game of odds, but the viewing was generally excellent this past summer (2007) in the Santa Barbara Channel (although this particular clip was from 2006).

[munkie18231]

That was too cool

[JakAndKeiraFan]

You are so lucky! Seeing a blue whale in the wild is one of my dreams in life.

[ThatSecondDude]

arent blue whales the biggest animals on earth??

[oceanspot]

Yes, they are the largest living animal on Earth now and to our knowledge, they are the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth. The American Cetacean Society publishes a "Cetacaen Comparison Chart" and on this chart, the Blue whale is even much larger than a brontosaurus dinosaur.

[dbsti300]

I hear these animals are endangered.  I hope this is not true.

[JakAndKeiraFan]

Until the early 20th century, there were more than 300,000 blue whales in the world. No one knows exactly how many there are now, but in 2002, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada estimated that there are between 5,000 and 12,000.

[oceanspot]

Yes, Blue whales are endangered, unfortunately. They were hunted nearly to extinction by whalers over the past two centuries. It's estimated that roughly 2,000 of them swim around California waters as they follow their food source...krill. One of the places to see them is in the Santa Barbara Channel, although as with any whale-watching trip, you will usually spend a lot more time looking for whales than actually watching them. If you're lucky enough to find one, it will be worth the wait.

[Impnaz88]

the brontosaurus doesn't exist, google it.

[casoa]

Amazing...simply amazing. It's almost hard to believe such a creature exist. It can make a person feel so much smaller.

[oceanspot]

It definitely was an amazing sight to see and was a privilege to witness. It also served as a good reminder that we need to take care of our oceans in order to protect the largest and the smallest forms of marine life, as they are all critical links within this important ecosystem.

[sonbuhitsunei]

doesnt look big enough to be a blue whale... o.O I suppose anything looks small in the ocean.

[oceanspot]

It was pretty far off in the distance, but there are 3 things that identify it as a blue whale: 1) the breathing pattern...it lingers just below the surface and takes a few breaths before diving deep; its blow (spout) was very tall, although in this clip, it was windy so you cannot see the height of the blow, 2) the very small dorsal fin...typical of a blue whale, and 3) the shape of the tail flukes and shape of its body between the dorsal fin and the fluke are also typical of a blue whale.