on not only nature but also humanity and our culture is equally as huge. I think their

cool! I love ‘em so much in fact, you could call me the “Prince of Whales”. Or not.

Anyway, you wouldn’t think their existence would affect our life, but let’s see what

the world would look like if there were no whales!

Whale, let’s take a moment to appreciate the coolest representative of this species.

The blue whale is the largest and heaviest creature that’s ever lived on Earth. Yes,

much bigger than any dinosaur you can imagine. It’s as long as a Boeing 737 and as heavy

as 4 of them!

The longest blue whale ever measured was just shy of 110 ft – longer than the distance

between the bases on a baseball diamond. It weighs up to 200 tons. That’s about 30 African

elephants, the largest land creature today. Just the tongue of a whale weighs as much

as 2 hippos, and 100 people could fit inside its mouth.

Um, we tried that once at the company party, but we could only get 74 people in the whale’s

mouth before, you know, he swallowed them. Man. Lost the whole sales team too. No, not

really.

Actually, with such a huge size, the blue whale is one of the most harmless creatures

in the ocean. There haven’t been any blue whale attacks on humans recorded in the past

hundred years. So you’d probably be safe swimming next to one, and I know you’d be

surprised by how small their eyes are compared to that massive body – they’re only about

the size of a grapefruit!

There are all kinds of whale species, and they’re all divided into two groups: baleen

and toothed. Obviously, the toothed kind have teeth, and they tend to be hunters. Baleen

whales have toothbrush-like combs instead of teeth, and they live on tiny organisms

like plankton and krill. So, again, if you’re ever swimming next to a whale and checking

out its eyeballs, please check if it has teeth first!

Alright, whales are fascinating, but let’s get back to the question at hand. A world

without all whales entirely, starting with our own history…

In ancient times, and I wasn’t around then, people believed that three huge whales carry

our planet on their backs. The whales swam across the endless ocean of life. Of course,

that was before astronomers discovered that the earth floats in space and revolves around

the sun thanks solely to our star’s gravitational pull. But still, the concept of three whales

has become a popular fairy tale. And if there were no whales, then what would people come

up with? Does the earth stand on huge walruses? Sharks? Three elephants on a turtle? Oh yeah,

that one also existed. Well, anyway…

What about those tales of sailors coming to an island only to find out it’s the back

of a whale? The concept and visuals make for a great plot in all kinds of films and books.

On that note, if there were no whales, the whaling ship "Essex" would never have encountered

an enormous sperm whale. These events wouldn’t have inspired Herman Melville to write one

of the greatest books of the 19th century: Moby-Dick.

“So what? It’s just an old book!” Hey, not so fast! Did you know that Starbucks is

named after one of the novel’s characters? Remember Starbuck, the first mate on the ship

and one of the main characters in the story? Skipped that day in Literature class, eh?

Well, no whales, no Starbucks. Ok, fine, maybe the coffee shop would go by a different name…

It wasn’t only the true story of the Essex that inspired Melville to write Moby-Dick.

The author actually worked on a whaling ship and caught whales for a long time. Why? Because

humanity had been doing it for thousands of years, and nobody thought any different. People

began hunting whales for their fat, which was used for fuel in oil lamps. That oil was

also used to make soaps and cosmetics. Without whales, would humanity have found a different

source, or would we have never discovered soap at all? Pee-yew…

Baleen was a must-have back in the whaling days. Also known as whalebone, those bristly

things were used to make ropes, nets, dishes, clothes – it was pretty much as popular

as plastic is today.

Fashion could’ve taken a completely different path. Without whalebone, we wouldn’t have

come up with corsets! Hmm, perhaps the hour-glass silhouette would’ve never become the fashionable

trend. Maybe pear-shapes would be the beauty standard. Let me know down in the comments

any other ways you imagine the world would change if we didn’t have whales!

But mostly, it’d have to be the effect on the food chain and the rich sea life. Without

orcas, we’d have a lot more sea lions, squids, and walruses. And if there are more sea lions,

then the number of all crustaceans and mollusks will noticeably decrease, since these blubbery

creatures live on that crunchy stuff. A lobster lunch is already pricey, but without whales,

it’ll become even more expensive. Seafood will be a luxury.

Even ordinary fish will feel the consequences. Blue whales feed on tiny krill. When a whale

goes to the bathroom – (let’s stop for second to imagine that. Whoa that’s a big

one.) Anyway, it provides phytoplankton with their food source. Phytoplankton feed ordinary

fish. Those little fish get eaten by bigger fish, and so on. Circle of life, right?

Phytoplankton also play a major role in keeping greenhouse gases at bay. They help remove

carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In a world without whales, this entire planet could be

a lot hotter!

If whales disappear, the ocean will also lose ... singing! Whales, birds, bats, and humans

are the only creatures on earth who can sing. Male whales sing songs to attract females,

and females sing lullabies to reassure their offspring. The incredible thing is that each

song is unique, it's never repeated. The sound of these songs span thousands of miles all

around! There are so few sounds in the ocean, so without whales, it’ll become one of the

quietest places on the planet!

By the way, if there weren’t any whales, there couldn’t be dolphins either… if

we’re talking about whales never having even existed. Dolphins, as well as porpoises,

are a type of whale! In fact, they’re that “toothed” kind, meaning orcas are actually

large dolphins!

If there are no whales, then who will become the largest creature on Earth? That’s right,

the African elephant. However, if whales had never existed as a species, then the African

elephant would probably have competitors! Or bigger family reunions. Yep, elephants

and whales are related…

I’m sure you know whales aren’t fish – they’re mammals that happen to live in the ocean.

They don't have gills, and they can’t breathe underwater. These animals take in air through

the blowhole on their heads every 15-30 minutes depending on the species. By the way, the

toothed kind only have 1 blowhole, but baleen whales have 2. There’s another way you can

tell the difference!

Anyway, here’s the theory: millions of years ago (I wasn’t around then), the animals

that whales would later come from actually walked on land! They looked like huge pigs

or hippos, and the hippos you know today do share a common ancient ancestor with whales!

(Along with other hooved beings like cows, deer, giraffes, and sheep!) These pre-whale

“pigs” lived near the ocean. They kept getting driven closer and closer to the water

by dangerous predators coming into their territory. Well, eventually, they had no other choice

than to jump into the water and start a new life as aquatic mammals!

Ok, it didn’t quite go like that. It took millions and millions of years for this evolutionary

process to happen. But over time, their hooves and limbs would be replaced with fins. In

fact, whales and dolphins still have hip bones today! They don’t use them or anything,

they’re just there and slowly disappearing, much like tailbones on humans!

And what if those prehistoric piggies hadn’t taken to the water? We could have pigs the

size of a house rolling around out in the mud! Humungous hippos would be kings of all

the savannas. It’s hard to say, but probably unlikely that they’d be any bigger than

they are now…

And that’s because gravity isn’t as strong when you’re in water. Whales don't feel

their enormous weight because they don't rely on their limbs to hold them up. This factor

allowed these animals to become so huge. That, and metabolism slows down in cold water versus

on land. As a result, whales accumulated more fat and became so massive. As for the last

factor, there were probably fewer dangers for whales in the water. So, they could multiply

and evolve almost without obstacles.

And wasn’t that a whale of a tale?

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