Whales and Elephants

The blue whale is the biggest animal in the world. They are the biggest animals on the planet. Whales live in the oceans. There are five oceans: The Pacific Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Indian Ocean, The Arctic Ocean and The Southern Ocean. Whales swim around the world.

Big in Every Way

Blue whales are the biggest creature (animal) to have lived on earth—they are even bigger than the biggest dinosaurs!

1. Blue whales are the largest animals to ever live on the planet, whales reach maximum lengths of 33.5 meters and weigh 150,000 kilos.

 

2. Blue whales can live for 80 to 90 years on average.

 

3. Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet capable of making sounds that can be heard by other blue whales up to 1,600 kilometers away. Whale are very noisy.

 

4. Blue whales can eat up to 5,400 kilos of krill (small shrimp -gambas) in a day.

 

5. Blue whales swim 8 kilometers per hour on average but can swim more than 32 kilometers per hour in short distances.

A baby whale is called a calf. A baby cow is also called a calf. One calf, two calves. Other baby mammals are called calves: elephant, camel, bison, elk, giraffe, gnu, hippopotamus, moose, ox, reindeer, rhinoceros, and yak.

Elephants

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African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are larger than Asian elephants and have bigger ears than their Asian cousins.

 

Herds (manadas)

Elephants are matriarchal, meaning they live in female-led groups called herds. The matriarch is usually the biggest and oldest. Elephants eat plants. They eat grass and leaves from trees. 

 

A baby elephant, an elephant calf, can weigh 100 kilos. They are big babies. Mother elephants have one baby every four or five years.

 

 

Vocabulary 

Female – hembra

Male – macho, varón

Herd – manada – Elephants live in herds.

Calf, Calves – cría, ballenato

To Weigh – pesar - An elephant weighs 6,000 kilograms.