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The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal of the suborder of baleen whales (called Mysticeti). They grow to be about 30 m (98 ft) long. The biggest blue whale found was 190 t (210 tons) and measured 98 feet^{[convert: %s]}%s long. Larger specimens have been measured at 110 feet^{[convert: %s]}%s, but never been weighed. This makes blue whales the largest animals to ever live on Earth, even bigger than the largest dinosaurs.

The blue whale eats mostly very tiny creatures, like krill. These inch-long, shrimp-like crustacean swim in large swarms. In the Antarctic summer, there are so many of these krill that they turn the waters orange. A blue whale can eat 8 to 10 t (7.9 to 9.8 long tons; 8.8 to 11.0 short tons) of krill every day.