It seems like a quiz question, how much does a whale weigh , because it is difficult to imagine a human being trying to weigh one. Of course, we could not count on any scale capable of holding its mass, yet some researchers have found a way to estimate it and understand something more about this enormous mammal.
In this article you will find all the information about the methodologies used to estimate the weight of a whale and especially the results of the estimates depending on the different varieties of whale.
How to weigh a whale
Thanks to new modern technologies, a team of researchers has succeeded in this feat of identifying how much a whale weighs and has published a new study in which they tell what they “invented” to achieve this goal. It is titled “Estimating body mass of free-living whales using aerial photogrammetry and 3D volumetrics” and was published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution of the British Ecological Society . We find carefully explained the method devised to make a very precise estimate of the weight of whales in nature, without mistreating them but using aerial images taken by drones.
It all starts with drones that are able to fly over our whales , frame them as needed and capture images. Then it is up to humans to be able to process the data obtained to arrive at an estimate of the weight of this animal. The team from the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (Aias) that led the research proceeded as follows, it turns out: they measured the body length, width and height of southern right whales by photographing them with drones and then developed a calculation model that was able to accurately derive the body volume and finally the mass of the whales.
If you are wondering what the previous method was: macabrely but pragmatically the specimens found dead on the beaches were weighed . Their large size and aquatic life did not leave much room for maneuver, before the arrival of drones.
Weight of a whale in relation to varieties
Below are the weights of some of the more important varieties of whales, ordered from heaviest to least heavy :
Blue Whale: 50,000-150,000 kg
Eubalaena Japonica: 50,000-80,000 kg
Eubalaena Glacialis: 40,000-70,000 kg
Balaenoptera Physalus: 48,000 kg
Sperm whale: 35,000-57,000 kg
Humpback whale: 30,000 kg
Gray Whale: 27,000
Eubalaena Australis: 23,000 kg
Balaenoptera Borealis: 20,000 kg
Beluga: 1,400 kg
Narwhal: 940 kg
Pilot whale: 800 kg
New discoveries on the weight of a whale
While they were at it, researchers took advantage of the opportunity and used the data collected to further deepen their knowledge of whales by trying to study their physiology and ecology. Knowing the body mass of these animals allows us to understand many aspects of their life and growth, such as how much their body mass increases over time and what their energy needs are for growth.
To do this, a real digital model of the whale under study, the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis), was developed and with this the team of researchers began to collaborate with the Digital Life Project of the University of Massachusetts – Amherst to recreate first a 3D web of the whale and then a 3D color model thanks to the skill of the artist Robert Gutierrez of GTZ Designs.
A real team effort with an important result. Yes, because this scientific model was not created as a game or for fun, or for the next animated film for Pixar, it is a model that can be used for scientific purposes, for example to better understand how whales move. Or even for educational purposes. The approach itself is also valuable because it shows us that the method is valid and that with some adjustments it could very well be used to estimate the size of other marine mammals to avoid other methods that often end up being invasive.
Weight of a Whale: Next Milestones
We are facing an important turning point because historically all the data on the size of mysticetes, which include species such as the blue whale ( Balaenoptera musculus ), have been obtained from samples coming from whaling, or from beachings or accidental captures. There was always the doubt that in these cases there could be physical distortions that invalidate the measurements or make them unreliable.
There has always been a lot of curiosity about this characteristic of theirs, which is in fact what most characterizes them, and until now the lack of certain data from a certain point of view prevented us from knowing their behavior, ecology, physiology and bioenergetics well.
How Much Do Whales Weigh: Mission in Argentina
To take pictures of the whales and then estimate their weight, the team of researchers monitored a series of specimens, 86 to be precise, while they were swimming off the Valdés Peninsula, in Argentina. This place was chosen because it has clear waters and a large number of whales come here every winter to reproduce. It was therefore actually the ideal place to be sure to cross many specimens to immortalize, obtaining measurements of the length, width and height of the cetaceans to use to model the shape of their body and the volume of the whales.
The calculation was then based on an estimate of the whales’ body density , which was assumed to be constant. This is not the most accurate since the proportion of different body tissues (blubber, muscle, etc.) in the whale’s body varies seasonally as they give birth or physically waste away.