The blue whale is the largest animal in the world. The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales. At up to 29.9 meters (98 ft) in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tons and probably reaching over 181 tons it is the largest animal known to have ever existed.
Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. As with other baleen whales, its diet consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill. Due to its large size, several organs of the blue whale are the largest in the animal kingdom.