Today is World Whale Day; Happy World Whale Day!
World Whale Day is celebrated at the end of February every year. It's a great time to celebrate whales and raise awareness about these beautiful animals.
There are 13 known whale species. Out of those 13 species, six of them are either endangered or vulnerable to extinction.
Whales as a whole are an endangered species.
The North Atlantic Right Whale is the most endangered whale species. These beautiful whales are critically endangered today. It's estimated that there are only around 400 individual North Atlantic Right Whales in the wild today, which makes these beautiful animals one of the rarest animals in the world.
Sadly, the North Atlantic Right Whale has also declined a lot in recent years, it is estimated that the North Atlantic Right Whale has declined by 8% since 2017.
Another whale species which is one of the rarest in the world is the North Pacific Right Whale. The North Pacific Right Whale is also a critically endangered/endangered species - there are only estimated to be fewer than 500 of these whales remaining, which means that they are also one of the world's rarest animals.
The Blue Whale is the largest whale species. Blue Whales are so incredibly big, that they are bigger than the dinosaurs and they are the biggest animal to have ever lived on the earth, which is cool!
In comparison, the smallest whale species is much smaller than the Blue Whale. The smallest whale species is called the Dwarf Sperm Whale. Dwarf Sperm Whales are only estimated to be around 4ft when they are born, which is small for a whale species.
An adult Dwarf Sperm Whale grows to 9 feet. In comparison, a Blue Whale can grow up to a MASSIVE 100 feet long!
Whales are both fascinating and beautiful animals. It's great that we have a day to celebrate these wonderful animals.
Happy World Whale Day!
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