How Fast Does a Whale Swim?

The whale family includes the largest creature ever on the planet Earth-- the blue whale. This whale can reach lengths of 100 feet long and weigh in at more than 120 tons. It would be hard to imagine something so huge being able to also be fast, but they are when they need to be. There are other whale species that also can cut through the water at a pretty good clip, as you will see.

Types

There are two types of whales. The toothed whales include such creatures as dolphins, porpoises, sperm whales and killer whales. The baleen whales, those which strain their food through large sieve-like baleen in the jays, consist of species such as the blue whale, the bowhead, the right whale, the gray and the humpback.

Time Frame

The fastest member of the whale family is the killer whale, that can achieve speeds in the water of up to 35 miles per hour. The gigantic blue whale can make it up to 30 miles an hour, but not for long distances. Gray whales have been clocked at 11 miles per hour, while sperm whales can go 27 miles an hour when they really need to. Bowhead whales can swim at 12 miles an hour tops with humpback whales a little quicker at 17 miles an hour.

Function

Whales do not swim in the same manner as fish do. Whales have extremely muscular tails called flukes which they move up and down through the water to propel themselves with. Fish sweep their tails side to side. The whale has fins that they use to steer with.

Geography

Whales are found in all of the world's oceans. Some species make incredibly long migrations each year to breeding grounds and then back to their feeding waters. As a rule whales will migrate to cold water for feeding and warmer waters to give birth. The gray whale may have the longest migration round trip of any animal on earth. It goes 6,000 miles from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the waters off southern California to breed and then returns to the north. When migrating the whales can cover over a hundred miles in a day in some cases, but do not use their maximum speeds in order to conserve energy.

Considerations

Whales are long lived creatures, with many species having life spans well over 50 years. Indeed, the bowhead whale is now believed to live for up to 200 years in some isolated instances, as evidence of antique harpoon heads taken from recently found bowheads proves they live a long time.

Resources

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