But how exactly does size protect them?
How are they not a floating buffet for sharks and other predators to nibble on?
Sorry for the dumb question.
But how exactly does size protect them?
How are they not a floating buffet for sharks and other predators to nibble on?
pressurized water beams out of the blowhole that melt through flesh
careful the goyim aren't supposed to know about that yet
>How does being too big to eat make it so things can't eat you
Its a mystery op.
>How are they not a floating buffet for sharks and other predators to nibble on?
A single well-placed swing from that enormous muscular fluke, and any would-be predator is either dead or extremely injured.
Not the Blue Whale but Orcas around Russia are so successful they decided to add Bowhead Whales to the menu as a regular prey. One technique in killing them is doing perpetual body slams in succession with your pod to basically drown it.
I hate orcas so much
>dead
>only a few chunks taken
W why
>kill is more than you can eat
>fill yourself on most nutritious parts
>leave rest for scavangers
It's like you don't even know how to be an efficient pack hunter.
Tongue tastes the best
>Ferguson said killer whales—hunting in pods—will pull down on a bowhead's lip to open its mouth, allowing other members to attack its fatty tongue. He also said the photos suggest these injuries were sustained while the bowheads were still alive.
Most nutrition is in the organs of the animal. Or in pizza terms, they're leaving the crust. Another reason size prevents predation, is it really worth the effort to try to go through that much hide and blubber to reach the good parts?
I hate how Japan whales but you can't act like Asians are the only ones. Norway literally beaches a dozen whales every year and then cheer as they spear and bludgeon them to death.
Look at Canada and their beating seals to death with clubs. Humans are fricking evil.
Japan isn't the worst. Look up any species native to China on wikipedia and you're bound to see this. I don't expect much in terms of ecological care from a country that deliberately tortures animals before they die to make them taste better.
>nobody fricks with blue whales they're too lar-ACK!
I think it's hard for some people to imagine the amount of force that's able to be generated when the whales purposefully impact their tails against something, given the amount of water resistance. It's like trying to punch someone in a pool underwater. I've lived in a landlocked area my entire life and sometimes it's hard for me to grasp the physics of big bodies of water, too.
>It's like trying to punch someone in a pool underwater
A punch requires proper footing to work, so not the best example.
Blue whales can accelerate to speeds up to 50km/h (30mph) in a few body lengths while dragging along 80 tons of seawater
their sheer immense and utter strength is almost impossible to imagine, just the force of that acceleration would potentially kill even a great white, and it's tail is all but guaranteed to kill one
How exactly does size protect them?
How are they not a walking buffet for honey badgers and other predators to nibble on?
I mean you would think there would be some kind of bird that could land and tear little chunks out. Even still there are biting flies and mosquitos they have to deal with
Like nail clippers against bark
Try getting close to a rhinoceros and cutting out a chunk of meat with a butter knife. Same thing, basically.
Speaking of whales, some organisms do see then as floating buffets. It's just that whales are so big they don't care about it. Minor annoyance, if anything. Pic related.
an interesting theory is that some whales actively nourish barnacle growth to act as a natural armor
Whale barnacles only use the whale as a moving platform, they don't eat its skin
That's what oxpeckers do. They groom off parasites so the animal doesn't fight them, but part of their diet is also the blood of the mammal they sit on.
You mean like this?
Roll on the groud! Roll! Roll!
Several reasons, I'd say:
1) One blow from their fluke and you're dead. As in, every-bone-in-your-body-being-broken kind of dead. Animals aren't that stupid, they won't risk certain death just to get something that they can much more easily and reliably get in a coral reef zone or whatever, unless they're really, really desperate.
Also, some whale species such sperm whales even have a second instakill weapon. The sperm whale has this huge resonance organ on its head with which it can create soundwaves loud enough to insta-KO smaller fish. They actually use this while hunting for squid and stuff.
2) Whales are warm-blooded which means they can maintain relatively high speeds for long periods of time. In contrast, sharks can only achieve that speed for short periods of time. By the time the shark has sensed there might be a whale around, the whale has already moved on. Basically it's out of reach all the time.
3) Whale skin is really thick and leathery. I guess a great white shark might be able to take a bite out of it, but anything smaller probably doesn't have the strength to bite through a blue whale's skin to begin with.
4) Whales aren't solitary afaik. They travel in schools which means you don't get to deal with a single tiger tank, you get to deal with a whole division of tigers.
5) Their habitats aren't the same and overlap only slightly. Sharks are shallow water animals whereas blue whales live in the open sea. Which means they won't even meet each other that often to begin with.
-
That said, there ARE instances of whales being killed by great white sharks and, more often, orcas. But those are usually the young/juvenile/old/weak ones. Check out the other thread about whale falls. Once an old whale gets weak and frail it WILL get preyed upon by orcas. They basically try to keep it below water so it drowns. But a fully grown healthy blue whale is pretty much unkillable for everything except other whales and humans.
Stupid question, but I know nothing of whale hunting techniques. People manage to kill whales even in small boats and most images I see they're both on the surface. I assume they try to catch them in shallow waters but even so, how do they manage to kill these enormous animals without them just diving or swimming away? Even with rudimentary tech and small boats?
Traditional:
>see whale
>move to your boats and spread out
>whale surfaces to breathe
>harpoon it
>the harpoon is on a rope so you're always following it automatically
>keep the rope taut at all times
>give the whale some rope when it starts to dive so you don't get pulled down
>the other boats gather round
>whale surfaces again
>10 additional harpoons
>dives and comes back up again
>another 10 harpoons
>eventually the whale bleeds out and dies
>it doesn't sink because it's attached to the harpoons of two dozen boats
>move it to your ship
>haul it on deck
Modern:
>be frickhuge ship
>have a frickhuge harpoon
>harpoon is attached to frickhuge winch
>high-tech echolocation
>find a whale and follow it
>whale surfaces
>shoot the whale with the force of a small artillery shell
>lift it out of the water as if it were a piece of seagrass
Better pic.
Oh, and OF COURSE it's bugpeople. Who else?
Japan can have a few whales, as a treat
Weird way to spell nukes
>Who else?
All of Europe for centuries? The New England colonies? What kind of oil do you think people used for lamps?
Tbf it was us westerners who almost deleted them all.
we were the ones that nearly wiped them off the face of the earth, Japan is small time but should still fricking stop
watching whale wars pissed me off so much.
whiny liberal homosexual flies a jolly roger like he's some hardass, then does frick all but throw some stink dombs.d
be the pirate. get an rpg and sink their asses.
>Be American
>Can buy a gun easily
>Can stop illegal whale hunters using force if necessary
>Instead he just inconveniences them a little bit
Might as well fly the Union Jack if he's going to do basically nothing and call it a victory.
There would be huge political repercussions if they actually attacked the whalers, Japan would consider it an act of war.
They're incredibly pissy about western mediation on whaling and consider it an act of racism and imperialism
>Japan would consider it an act of war.
Then they can have one.
Russia and China already want the Japs dead. If they were stupid enough to declare war on the US again after last time, that would mean all three superpowers of the world would have good reason to come together and turn their shitty little backwater island into a smoldering radioactive crater within the day.
Two nukes wasn't enough. Let's try 2,000 on for size.
The US wouldn't wage all out war on its favorite vassal state over whaling rights, they would just arrest the agitator who attacked the ships and apologize
Let's kill millions of people over a hundred whales, that aren't even endangered, a year
Because it is
You frickers slaughter pigs en masse but oh no not the heckin whales. Whales have never shown greater intelligence than pigs. Fricking dolphins are basically dogs with better calculators, nothing more. You eat diets of pure cow. Cows are most likely smarter than a few whale species. And who cares about intelligence? Their level of awareness is all the same. Nonhuman mammal. No abstract language.
Perhaps you could make an argument against china eating dogs. Call it inefficient, zoonosis city, or a test of instinctive character because dogs were bred to make people feel empathetic. But whales are a world away from it all. Not in your fantasy about them, but in reality they are basically fish.
It is racism, imperialism, and hypocrisy.
I couldn't care less about the intelligence of the animals in question.
Pigs are produced en masse for human consumption we will never run out of them and the ones we kill are ecologically useless.
Whales are extracted directly from the environment in unsustainable numbers, whaling actively endangers their populations.
I'm not an animal rights activist, I'm an environmentalist.
I care about the integrity of ecosystems and preservation of natural heritage.
As long as your hunting doesn't deplete natural populations you can eat animals alive for all I care. That's not the case for Japanese whaling.
Japan aims for sustainable whaling and is working on managing quotas properly.
The "environmentalists" are all animal rights (anti-human) nutjobs looking for something to do without running into agriculture protection laws, as if they are insulted by the fact that humans are apex predators and need meat to live.
>Japan aims for sustainable whaling
Historically Japan has always found dishonest subterfuges to kill more whales than they're allowed to. They're known for killing whales "for monitoring purposes" (although that's an incredibly obsolete practice) and selling the meat, falsifying numbers and poaching. Japan is completely opposed to changing their whaling regimen.
>The "environmentalists" are all (strawmen)
Sorry, I only argue with adults.
>Japan is completely opposed to changing their whaling regimen.
And why should they? Just because sheltered American women like the flippy beepy heckin thinky bois? Worry about your own waters
>Just because sheltered American women like the flippy beepy heckin thinky bois?
No, because the importance of wildlife and ecosystem preservation is scientifically recognized and international laws and commissions have been established to manage whalings and preserve cetacean species.
>worry about your own waters
Wildlife doesn't recognize political boundaries.
>No, because the importance of wildlife and ecosystem preservation is scientifically recognized and international laws and commissions have been established to manage whalings and preserve cetacean species.
You mean the international laws that Japan obeys
>Wildlife doesn't recognize political boundaries.
Humans do stupid b***h and you have got no right to tell people in other countries how they are to manage their own resources. Frick off American
>Humans do stupid b***h and you have got no right to tell people in other countries how they are to manage their own resources. Frick off American
When subhumans are actively destroying the planet we all live on, it's up to actual humans to put them in their place.
I would laugh at the extermination of every last chink man, woman, and child just for the massive environmental W it would be alone. Mismanaging your resources shouldn't be a point of national pride for non-moronic societies.
>you have got no right to tell people in other countries how they are to manage their own resources
It's not their resources when they're hunting whales in Antarctica and not Japanese waters moron
Yes, Ken-sama. The last time that nation of shrimp-dicked midgets got uppity we nuked them twice. If you'd like to continue consooming heckin wholesome tranime, maybe use that "Japanese 101" education you took at community college to advise your grorious slant-eye senpais to comply.
>Japan aims for sustainable whaling and is working on managing quotas properly.
ahahahahaha tell another one
If it really was sustainable it'd be one whale every several years. They take a while to mature and produce more whales after all.
You'd have a point except cattle are bred to be eaten, whales are literally being hunted to extinction, which drastically affects the global ecosystem considering most of the Earth is oceans.
>Need meat to live
So that justifies hunting them to extinction? When they're all gone then there literally won't be any whale meat left to eat literally forever.
Illegally hunting animals to extinction in international waters outside their borders affects everyone you fricking weaboo.
The lie you are repeating because you are idiot woman American is Japan hunting whales to extinction
For last time b***h specie that Japan claims is not even endangered and they have limit. Whale meat is not even very popular but for a few places. Now close your pussy you are just mad because whale reminds you of your mother.
>Seething jap
>T. seething jap
>They're incredibly pissy about western mediation on whaling and consider it an act of racism and imperialism
Not really the west's fault if their culture is wrong
you forgot a step:
>Crack your backs and break your oars
also
>have your whaleboat stoved
>die
>The sperm whale has this huge resonance organ on its head with which it can create soundwaves loud enough to insta-KO smaller fish. They actually use this while hunting for squid and stuff.
This has never been proven. Stop spreading misinformation moron.
Too fast?
And if you can keep up they can change direction?
It's still not a good argument considering cookie cutter sharks exist, so bigger sharks should be able to do the same.
They can just smack you. With their speed and mass they hit like a truck.
>It's still not a good argument considering cookie cutter sharks exist
Cookie cutter sharks are so small and take so little tissue that it may as well be just another parasite a whale doesn't acknowledge the existence of.
Besides, cookie cutters are extremely well adapted to a wholly unique niche of hit and run feeding that no other vertabrate (to my knowledge) practices.
At the end of the video the whale swims into a dark cloud in the water, those are fish. The whale is hunting.
>be shark
>bite animal the size of a 10 storey building
>get obliterated by a tail the size of a small aeroplane
>mfw
A blue whale is 5 times larger than a great white shark. Imagine trying to fistfight a human being who was 30 feet tall. Orcas are really the only creatures who stand a chance of killing one and only with dozens of Orcas hunting as a pack.
Imagine running by a 30ft human and taking a bite out of them. Are they catching you?
Not all wienerroaches can run away from you
>i'm sure to win because my speed is superior
Well for every 5 steps you take they only have to take one
*STOMP*
dextrannies are mentally ill
> A blue whale is 5 times larger than a great white shark
In length. In mass (what actually matters) the largest blue whales are 75 times as large as the largest great whites.
Even more, the largest great whites are estimated to be around two tonnes. The largest blue whales likely weigh nearly 250 tonnes, even the largest weighed after being chopped up was 180 tonnes and was probably more like 200 even after losing all its blood
250 tonnes now huh, guess the news of Bruhathkayosaurus possibly being bigger than blue whales made the dolphin frickers defensive.
>The only known remains of Bruhathkayosaurus have been lost so the validity of the genus and any size estimates are questionable.
go back to your chinese fantasy art containment thread
>this one fragmentary remain must be the biggest animal ever
Right, its not like most of the estimates are in the 100-120 tonne range. If you do a shitty square cube calculation for a 30 metre blue whale based on the 27 metre, 170 tonne individual you get like 230 tonnes and more if you account for blood loss
sauropodlets on suicide watch
>5 times larger
along 3 dimensions. so 125x larger
You're underestimating their agility, they are not stiff and helpless. One hit from that fluke and they are fricking dead.
On top of their surprising speed, they have amazing stamina, thanks to their warm blooded circulation system. A sperm whale can maintain a speed of 30mph for up to an hour. Whereas most sharks, and other predatory fish, can only maintain that level of speed for short bursts.
Whales only look slow because of their size. Like how a small boat and a large boat can travel at the same speed but the smaller boat will look dramatically faster than the large boat.
Damn that's beautiful
Amazing video
That's freaking cool. Whales are incredible.
Big thing goes thunk, small thing goes splat
But there's nothing to splat against. They're floating in the ocean.
the big thing is big enough to cause you to splat against it by its raw force.
smaller whales have knocked people out just by accidentally tapping.
you can splat something against liquid water
You're a fricking moron.
Water is incompressible anon. You're not floating in space and you have nowhere to go if you get beamed with the force of a truck.
You're the type of person that thinks a car going 5mph can't kill a man
>getting punched in the face doesn't hurt because all that's around my head is air
Fricking idiot
>How are they not a floating buffet
they are for parasites