How much do whales weigh?
Well, that is quite a difficult question to answer because there are currently about 80 various species of whale and each species is a different size and weight.
Luckily however there are a few facts that can help clarify this topic.
To give you a better comparison first we’ll talk about the smallest and lightest of the whale species, the dwarf sperm whale.
The dwarf sperm whale gets its name from a spermaceti organ located in its head which is believed to help it stabilize in the water, and yes this whale does belong to the sperm whale family.
This whale on average grows to be around 9 ft long and when fully matured will weigh between 400 – 600 pounds.
In comparison the blue whale “the worlds largest living animal” can grow to a length of over 100 ft and weigh in excess of 150 tons.
The blue whales heart alone can weigh as much if not more than a fully grown dwarf sperm whale.
This whales name comes from the fact that when it is fully submerged in water it appears a purely blue color despite that fact that has a greyish skin tone when it isn’t submerged.
In general toothed whales are significantly smaller than their baleen whale counterparts with the exception of the incredibly large sperm whale.
Here are some more statistics and comparisons regarding whale size and weight:
- The blue whale is the largest living animal on this planet and can grow to be over 90 ft and weigh 150 tons or more.
- The dwarf sperm whale is smallest of the whale species and can grow up to 9 ft in length and weigh up to 600 pounds.
- The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whale suborder and can grow as long as 65 ft and weigh over 62 short tons.
- Baird’s beaked whale in comparison is the second largest of the toothed whale suborder and can grow to a length of 42 ft and weigh around 15 short tons.
- The killer whale “aka Orca” is actually a dolphin. In fact the killer whale happens to be the largest of the dolphin species (hence the name whale) and can grow larger than 25 ft long and weigh over 6 tons.
