Whales

This passage discusses whales and how they live.

Lexile Level: 680L

Categories: Animals & Nature

The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived on Earth. It is bigger than any dinosaur. A blue whale can be as tall as a nine-story building and weigh as much as 150 tons. Blue whales are also the loudest of any animal. It can be louder than a jet! They sing low, rumbling songs that other whales can hear hundreds of miles away. The sound they make is so low in pitch that people can't hear it. Whales are not fish. They are mammals, as are people. Whales breathe air into their lungs, but they don't have noses. The air comes in through blowholes on the top of their heads. Whales don't lay eggs. They have live babies, just as humans do. A baby whale is called a calf and can gain as much as 200 pounds a day! Baby whales have hair, which they lose as they grow up. Instead of families, whales live in small groups called pods.