Huge indeed are the giant squid and the sperm whale, yet the blue whale, the largest mammal, surpasses them in size. The longest blue whale on record was a 108-foot [33 m] adult female caught in Antarctica. The blue whale may weigh as much as 150 tons. The weight of its tongue alone is equal to that of an adult elephant! And just imagine​—it gives birth to a three-ton calf that is 23 to 27 feet [7 to 8 m] long! Hunted by whalers, the blue whale became nearly extinct by the 1960’s and today is classified as a critically endangered species.

[Picture on page 17]

Blue whale and calf