Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 128, August 2015, pp. 1-18. | Page 10

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have prominent and falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsals. When surfacing to breathe,
the blue whale raises its shoulder and blowhole out of the water to a greater
extent than other large whales, such as the fin or sei whales. Observers can use
this trait to differentiate between species at sea. Some blue whales in the North
Atlantic and North Pacific raise their tail fluke when diving. When breathing, the
whale emits a spectacular vertical single-column spout up to 12 metres (39 feet),
typically 9 metres (30 feet). Its lung capacity is 5,000 litres (1320 U.S. gallons).
Blue whales have twin blowholes shielded by a large splashguard (Wikipedia).
The flippers are 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 feet) long. The upper sides are grey with a
thin white border; the lower sides are white. The head and tail fluke are
generally uniformly grey. The whale's upper parts, and sometimes the flippers,
are usually mottled. The degree of mottling varies substantially from individual
to individual. Some may have a uniform slate-grey color, but others demonstrate
a considerable variation of dark blues, greys and blacks, all tightly mottled
(Wikipedia).

Prof. Dr. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa standing beside the Skeleton of the 24meters Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) which stranded on the Kazma (Kadmah)
coast in Kuwait in 1963 and is displayed at the Educational Science Museum in Kuwait.
Photo by: Nora Norman Ali Khalaf. 24.06.2014.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/14383601329/
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 128 – August 2015