The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. Blue Whales are believed to be the largest animal ever to have lived, at up to 30 metres in length and 140 tonnes or more in weight. Blue Whales were abundant in most oceans around the world up until the beginning of the twentieth century. For the first 40 years of that century they were hunted by whalers almost to extinction. Hunting of the species was outlawed by the international community in 1966. The current world population is between three and four thousand individuals. These are located in four (or possibly five) groups. The largest is in the North-East Pacific. There are two groups in the North Atlantic and one in Antarctic waters. Blue Whales found in the Indian Ocean may or may not be part of the Antarctic group.
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