Wednesday 12 June 2013

Actual size blue whale heart!

This is pretty cool, a scale model of a blue whale heart...

Here's some information about the heart from the wonderful wikipedia:

Due to its large size, several organs of the blue whale are the largest in the animal kingdom. A blue whale's tongue weighs around 2.7 metric tons (3.0 short tons) and, when fully expanded, its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 metric tons (99 short tons) of food and water. Despite the size of its mouth, the dimensions of its throat are such that a blue whale cannot swallow an object wider than a beach ball. Its heart weighs 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) and is the largest known in any animal. A blue whale's thoracic aorta is estimated to be 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in diameter. During the first seven months of its life, a blue whale calf drinks approximately 400 litres (110 US gal) of milk every day. Blue whale calves gain weight quickly, as much as 90 kilograms (200 lb) every 24 hours. Even at birth, they weigh up to 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb)—the same as a fully grown hippopotamus. Blue whales have relatively small brains, only about 6.92 kilograms (15.26 lb) , about 0.007% of its body weight.

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