[CINC] blue whale skeleten fact sheet

[Catherine French]

Hi all: I had emailed Paul Collins regarding his blue whale skeleten talk for those of you who missed his presentation at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to get the pertinent information from the talk and he has supplied them below.

Paul has also agreed to do another blue whale skeleten talk in the future. So I am sure Shauna will look into that possibility. In the meantime, this is great information. Enjoy.


Chad’s Stats
 
Size: 
Original 1980 specimen was ~ 72 feet long 
Remounted skeleton is approximately 74 feet long 
Estimated mass of a 74 ft Blue Whale is around 120 tons 
 
Skeleton:  
1) Skeleton is comprised of 175-177 bones 
2) Bones of skeleton are from 5 individuals 
                        1980 blue whale: post cranial skeleton
                        First 2007 blue whale:  skull and lower mandibles
                        Second 2007 blue whale:  left ear bone
                        Third 2007 blue whale from SMI:  right ear bone
                        LACM blue whale: last five tail vertebrae
3) Skeleton weight  ~7,672 lbs
            Skull and mandibles weith 3,946 lbs
            Vertebrae weigh ~2,600 lbs
            Front limbs weigh ~325 lbs 
            All of the other bones weigh ~761 lbs 
4) Number of cast bones in the skelton
            5 caudal vertebrae
            1.5 posterior ribs
            1 ear bone
            10 phalanges and carpals
5)  The exhibited skeleton is made up of 95-98% real bone
6) Changes made to the remounted skeleton
            Position of the mandibles
            Orientation of the hyoid bones
            Position of the sternum
            Position and orientation of the ribs     
            Position and orientation of the front limbs
            Orientation of the vertebral column 
            Missing elements cast and included on remounted skeleton
            Completely new steel framework to support the skeleton
 
Shape of the Whale in the Concrete
 
This shape in the concrete represents a frontal section also known as a coronal plain view of the whale.  This plain or section view of the body cuts the body in half from head to tail separating the dorsal and ventral portions of the body along the plain of the tail fluke.  It represents the shape of the body along this midline at its maximum dimension.  
            Shape is ~74 ft long from tip of the mandibles to the notch
            Tail is 18.5 feet wide (e. g. tip to tip)
 
 
Adaptations for Efficient Cruising
 
Blue whales can reach swimming speeds of 27.23 ft/sec which enables them to traverse long expanses of ocean in search of their preferred prey.  Their morphology is indicative of a species designed for steady, high speed, efficient cruising in a pelagic environment with low maneuvering requirements.  To reach this speed Blue Whales have the most elongated, stream-lined body form with the highest fineness ratio and lowest volumetric coefficient for any of the baleen whales.  
 
The following are morphological adaptations that reduce resistance (drag) and increase efficiency for steady swimming: 
1)      Stiff streamlined bodies 
2)      Small, high aspect ratio flippers and flukes for fast efficient cruising.  The small flipper and fluke surface areas relative to the size of a Blue Whale’s body helps to reduce draft and increase swimming efficiency. 
3)      Small high aspect ratio flukes (tails) and stiff streamlined bodies reduce resistance-drag and increase efficiency for steady swimming.  High-aspect ratio flukes represents a hydrodynamic feature that improves their propulsive efficiency.  They can exert more thrust for their fluke area for a given speed while reducing drag.  



Calm Seas,
 
Catherine French
Writer, mentor, naturalist
805.570.0432
To own is to have; to share with friends, is to enjoy.

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