Why whales are big but not bigger: Physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Goldbogen, J.A., Cade, D.E., Wisniewska, D.M., Potvin, J., Segre, P.S., Savoca, M.S., Hazen, E.L., Czapanskiy, M.F., Kahane-Rapport, S.R., DeRuiter, S.L., Gero, S., Tonnesen, P., Gough, W.T., Hanson, M.B., Holt, M.M., Jensen, F.H., Simon, M., Stimpert, A.K., Arranz, P., Johnson, D.W., Nowacek, D.P., Parks, S.E., Visser, F., Friedlaender, A.S., Tyack, P.L., Madsen, P.T., Pyenson, N.D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Blue whale
• Online Access: http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=319547

Although many people think of dinosaurs as being the largest creatures to have lived on Earth, the true largest known animal is still here today—the blue whale. How whales were able to become so large has long been of interest. Goldbogen et al. used field-collected data on feeding and diving events across different types of whales to calculate rates of energy gain (see the Perspective by Williams). They found that increased body size facilitates increased prey capture. Furthermore, body-size increase in the marine environment appears to be limited only by prey availability.