By DAN JOLING
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:00 p.m. ET July 28, 2004ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Federal scientists have sighted a rare mammal in Alaska waters -- endangered blue whales, the largest animal known to live on Earth.

The sighting by researchers on board a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel means the blue whale population may be getting healthier and expanding back to traditional territories.

"We are thrilled," Dr. Jay Barlow, chief scientist on board the McArthur II for a 120-day research cruise, said Friday from Kodiak. "It's been 30 years since we had a confirmed sighting up here."

Most recent population estimates show about 12,000 blue whales worldwide, with about 2,000 in U.S. waters off California in summer and fall. Others are found in found in the western Pacific, the North Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Antarctic. Blue whales in the Pacific can reach 85 feet long and 100 feet long in the Antarctic, Barlow said.

Blue whales are believed to migrate in the North Pacific in summer to northern feeding grounds, where they eat about four tons of krill per day, putting on fat for the winter. In winter, the eastern Pacific group migrates south to calving grounds off Mexico and Costa Rica, Barlow said.

Blue whales were hunted commercially between 1860s and the 1960s, with an estimated 350,000 killed during that period, including thousands in Alaska. They have been protected since 1965.

Scientists on the McArthur II are studying humpback whales on the research cruise, which ends in November. The vessel sails in zigzag patterns from shore up to 200 miles out in traditional whaling waters.

The vessel was about 100 nautical miles southeast of Prince William Sound, where the ocean is approximately two miles deep, on July 15 when spotters saw the first blue whale in late afternoon of an overcast day.

Full Story Link

That's nice to hear that they are still around

Thats great news hopefully the blue whale population is once again growing and that it may reach great heights as it should! They are trully a sea creature to marvel and will hopefully live far into the future so we can still marvel at their beauty and size!

Very very VERY Cool!