Observations - Blue Whale

Blue Whale images provided by Bob McPherson, taken near Bridgewater, south-west Victoria. These images were mainly taken from land using a telephoto lens.

This specie of Blue whale is known as the Pygmy Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda. It has an average length of 22 metres and occurs only in the Southern Hemisphere and generally north of the Antarctic convergence (lat. 55o-60oS).

The Pygmy Blue Whale is found in the south-west Victoria on the continental shelf between Cape Otway, Victoria to Robe, South Australia. Sightings occur from November through to May and are associated with feeding on krill Nyctiphanes australis which form surface swarms in response to predictable wind forced upwelling of cool nutrient rich water named the Bonney Upwelling.

Blue Whale 3 Bob McPherson
The Pygmy Blue Whale has an average length of 22 metres
Blue Whale 2 Bob McPherson
 
blue whale 4 Bob McPherson
Distinctive features of the Blue Whale include; long streamline shape, small triangular dorsal fin positioned far back on the body, pointed flippers and a single prominent ridge along the upper surface of the head ending in a prominent knob around the blowholes.
blue whale 5 Bob McPherson
 
blue whale 6 Bob McPherson
 

 

More about the Blue Whale in Victoria 

More Nature Observations 

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