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Blue Whale near Los Angeles
Amidst all of the wildlife doom and gloom in the news, there are a few success stories and one of them undoubtedly is the return of Blue Whales off the coast of Los Angeles since about the 1990s. I mean, heh, it isn't everyday that you get the chance to easily see the largest living animal ever off the coast of a major US city (and they come amazingly close to shore - see the photo)! I had seen other whales on whale watching tours - but this one is in a class of its own. So if you find yourself in Southern California between June and October - treat yourself and take a 3-hr "Blue Whale" tour, it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At 30 metres in length and 170 tonnes or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed.
Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinct subspecies: ''B. m. musculus'' of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, ''B. m. intermedia'' of the Southern Ocean and ''B. m. brevicauda'' found in.. more
