# What Do Blue Whales Eat?

> Blue whales filter krill — up to about 4 tonnes on feeding days. They are baleen whales, not sharks. Never feed them.

- **Species:** Blue Whale (*Balaenoptera musculus*)
- **Conservation status:** Endangered
- **Diet:** Carnivore (krill)
- **Habitat:** Open oceans worldwide
- **Lifespan:** 80–90 years
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/blue-whale/what-do-blue-whale-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/blue-whale/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed, reaching up to 30 m (98 ft) long and 180 tonnes. It feeds almost entirely on tiny krill, eating up to 4 tonnes a day, and its heart alone can weigh as much as a small car. Blue whales can live 80 to 90 years.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## The largest animal ever

Blue whales are bigger than any dinosaur known to science. Their tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, and their heart can be the size of a small car. A newborn calf is already around 7 m long and gains roughly 90 kg every day in its first months.

## Help protect the Blue Whale

Blue whales remain Endangered (2018) after industrial whaling; a widely cited global range is 10,000–25,000. The Antarctic subspecies is Critically Endangered. WARN does not run whale research ships.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/blue-whale/what-do-blue-whale-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.