Freebert

## Albert "Freebert" Cavazos

This is it, the legend himself, Freebert, the freest Marth Corpus has ever seen, he enjoys not walking and f smashing. He is currently residing in the Valley somewhere getting beat up to hone his melee skills.

### Once the very best...

Albert use to reign supreme in the little CC smash scene, then another FCB Member, Jelly Biscuits, started on his rise to power with Sheik, these two have been battling it out for 1st place ever since. Before he left CC, Albert struggled to get 1st in any CC tournaments, losing to Jelly Biscuits in Melee and then to Cox$ in Project M.

### Realms Con 2015

Freebert decided to return to CCsmash for this convention called Realms Con, there was to be a Melee and Project M tournament. Unfortunately, he couldn't wavedash fast enough to compete in the Melee tournament, but he did make it to the Project M tournament, however he only placed 5th, losing to Empress's Squirtle and a Ganondorf player from Southeast Texas.

☀

The **blue whale** (*Balaenoptera musculus*) is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales (Mysticeti).[9] At 30 metres (98 ft)[10] in length and 180 tonnes (200 short tons)[11] or more in weight, it is the largest extant animal and is the heaviest known to have existed.[12]

Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath.[13] There are at least three distinct subspecies: *B. m. musculus* of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, *B. m. intermedia* of the Southern Ocean and *B. m. brevicauda* (also known as the pygmy blue whale) found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. *B. m. indica*,
 found in the Indian Ocean, may be another subspecies. As with other
baleen whales, its diet consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill.[14]

Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers
 until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report
estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide,[15] in at least five groups. More recent research into the Pygmy subspecies suggests this may be an overestimate.[16] Before whaling, the largest population was in the Antarctic, numbering approximately 239,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000).[17] There remain only much smaller (around 2,000) concentrations in each of the eastern North Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean groups. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic, and at least two in the Southern Hemisphere. As of 2014, the Californian blue whale population has rebounded to nearly its pre-hunting population.[18]

## Taxonomy

See also: Evolution of cetaceans

Blue whales are rorquals (family Balaenopteridae), a family that includes the humpback whale, the fin whale, Bryde's whale, the sei whale, and the minke whale.[9] The family Balaenopteridae is believed to have diverged from the other families of the suborder Mysticeti as long ago as the middle Oligocene (28 Ma ago). It is not known when the members of those families diverged from each other.
The blue whale is usually classified as one of eight species in the genus *Balaenoptera*; one authority places it in a separate monotypic genus, *Sibbaldus*,[19] but this is not accepted elsewhere.[1] DNA sequencing analysis indicates that the blue whale is phylogenetically closer to the sei whale (*Balaenoptera borealis*) and Bryde's whale (*Balaenoptera brydei*) than to other *Balaenoptera* species, and closer to the humpback whale (*Megaptera*) and the gray whale (*Eschrichtius*) than to the minke whales (*Balaenoptera acutorostrata* and *Balaenoptera bonaerensis*).[20][21] If further research confirms these relationships, it will be necessary to reclassify the rorquals.

There have been at least 11 documented cases of blue-fin
 hybrid adults in the wild. Arnason and Gullberg describe the genetic
distance between a blue and a fin as about the same as that between a
human and a gorilla.[22] Researchers working off Fiji believe they photographed a hybrid humpback-blue whale[23] including the case of discovery through DNA analyzing from a meat sample found on Japanese market.[24][25]

The first published description of the blue whale comes from Robert Sibbald's *Phalainologia Nova* (1694). In September 1692, Sibbald found a blue whale that had stranded in the Firth of Forth—a male 24 m (78 ft)-long—which had "black, horny plates" and "two large apertures approaching a pyramid in shape".[26]

The specific name *musculus* is Latin and could mean "muscle", but it can also be interpreted as "little mouse".[27] Carl Linnaeus, who named the species in his seminal *Systema Naturae* of 1758,[28] would have known this and may have intended the ironic double meaning.[29] Herman Melville called this species "sulphur-bottom" in his novel *Moby-Dick* due to an orange-brown or yellow tinge on the underparts from diatom
 films on the skin. Other common names for the blue whale have included
"Sibbald's rorqual" (after Sibbald, who first described the species),
the "great blue whale" and the "great northern rorqual". These names
have now fallen into disuse. The first known usage of the term "blue
whale" was in Melville's *Moby-Dick*, which only mentions it in
passing and does not specifically attribute it to the species in
question. The name was really derived from the Norwegian *blåhval*, coined by Svend Foyn shortly after he had perfected the harpoon gun; the Norwegian scientist G. O. Sars adopted it as the Norwegian common name in 1874.[26]

Authorities classify the species into three or four subspecies: *B. m. musculus*, the northern blue whale consisting of the North Atlantic and North Pacific populations, *B. m. intermedia*, the southern blue whale of the Southern Ocean, *B. m. brevicauda*, the pygmy blue whale found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific,[30] and the more problematic *B. m. indica*,
 the great Indian rorqual, which is also found in the Indian Ocean and,
although described earlier, may be the same subspecies as *B. m. brevicauda*.[1]

## Description and behaviour

A blue whale lifting its tail flukes

Adult blue whale

The blue whale has a long tapering body that appears stretched in comparison with the stockier build of other whales.[31] The head is flat, *U*-shaped and has a prominent ridge running from the blowhole to the top of the upper lip.[31] The front part of the mouth is thick with baleen plates; around 300 plates (each around one metre (3.2 ft) long)[31]
 hang from the upper jaw, running 0.5 m (1.6 ft) back into the mouth.
Between 70 and 118 grooves (called ventral pleats) run along the throat
parallel to the body length. These pleats assist with evacuating water
from the mouth after lunge feeding (see feeding below).

The dorsal fin is small,[31]
 ranging in height from 8–70 centimeters (3.1–27.6 in) (usually 20–40
centimeters (7.9–15.7 in)) and averaging about 28 centimetres (11 in).[32]
 It is visible only briefly during the dive sequence. Located around
three-quarters of the way along the length of the body, it varies in
shape from one individual to another; some only have a barely
perceptible lump, but others may 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 ft), typically 9 metres (30 ft).
 Its lung capacity is 5,000 litres (1320 U.S. gallons). Blue whales have twin blowholes shielded by a large splashguard.[31]

The flippers are 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 ft) 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.[9]

Blue whales can reach speeds of 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) over
short bursts, usually when interacting with other whales, but 20
kilometres per hour (12 mph) is a more typical traveling speed.[9] When feeding, they slow down to 5 kilometres per hour (3.1 mph).

Blue whales most commonly live alone or with one other individual. It
 is not known how long traveling pairs stay together. In locations where
 there is a high concentration of food, as many as 50 blue whales have
been seen scattered over a small area. They do not form the large,
close-knit groups seen in other baleen species.

### Size

View of a blue whale and its bow wave, showing the blowhole

The blow of a blue whale

The small dorsal fin of this blue whale is just visible on the far left.

The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived.[33][34] By comparison, one of the largest known dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era was *Argentinosaurus*,[35] which is estimated to have weighed up to 90 tonnes (99 short tons), comparable to the average of blue whale.[36] *Amphicoelias fragillimus*,
 at an estimated 122.4 tonnes (134.9 short tons) is still lighter than
the largest blue whales, despite being 190 feet (58 m) in length.[37]

Blue whales are difficult to weigh because of their size. As is the
case with most large whales targeted by whalers, adult blue whales have
never been weighed whole, but cut up into manageable pieces first. This
caused an underestimate of the total weight of the whale, due to the
loss of blood and other fluids. As a whole, blue whales from the
Northern Atlantic and Pacific appear to be smaller on average than those
 from sub-Antarctic waters. Nevertheless, measurements between 150–170
tonnes (170–190 short tons) were recorded of animals up to 27 metres
(89 ft) in length. The weight of an individual 30 metres (98 ft) long is
 believed by the American National Marine Mammal Laboratory
 (NMML) to be in excess of 180 tonnes (200 short tons). The largest blue
 whale accurately weighed by NMML scientists to date was a female that
weighed 177 tonnes (195 short tons).[15]

There is some uncertainty about the biggest blue whale ever found, as most data came from blue whales killed in Antarctic
 waters during the first half of the twentieth century, which were
collected by whalers not well-versed in standard zoological measurement
techniques. The heaviest whale ever recorded weighed in at approximately
 190 metric tons (210 short tons).[38]
 The longest whales ever recorded were two females measuring 33.6 and
33.3 metres (110 and 109 ft), although in neither of these cases was the
 piecemeal weight gathered.[39] The longest whale measured by scientists at the NMML was a 29.9 metres (98 ft),[15]
 female caught in the Antarctic by Japanese whalers in 1946–47. Lieut.
Quentin R. Walsh, USCG, while acting as whaling inspector of the factory
 ship *Ulysses*, verified the measurement of a 30 m (98 ft) pregnant blue whale caught in the Antarctic in the 1937–38 season.[40]
 The longest reported in the North Pacific was a 27.1 metres (89 ft)
female taken by Japanese whalers in 1959, and the longest reported in
the North Atlantic was a 28.1 metres (92 ft) female caught in the Davis
Strait.[26]

Due to its large size, several organs of the blue whale are the largest in the animal kingdom. A blue whale's tongue weighs around 2.7 tonnes (3.0 short tons)[41] and, when fully expanded, its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 tonnes (99 short tons) of food and water.[14]
 Despite the size of its mouth, the dimensions of its throat are such
that a blue whale cannot swallow an object wider than a beach ball.[42] Its heart weighs 400 pounds (180 kg) and is 6 feet (1.8 m) wide, with a thoracic aorta estimated to be 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter.[43]
 During the first seven months of its life, a blue whale calf drinks
approximately 400 litres (110 US gal) of milk every day. Blue whale
calves gain weight
 quickly, as much as 90 kilograms (200 lb) every 24 hours. Even at
birth, they weigh up to 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb)—the same as a fully
grown hippopotamus.[9] Blue whales have relatively small brains, only about 6.92 kilograms (15.26 lb), about 0.007% of its body weight.[44] The blue whale penis is the largest penis of any living organism[45] and also set the Guinness World Record as the longest of any animal's.[46] The reported average length varies but is usually mentioned to have an average length of 2.4 m (8 ft) to 3.0 m (10 ft).[47]

A blue whale skull measuring 5.8 metres (19 ft)

### Feeding

Blue whales feed almost exclusively on krill, though they also take small numbers of copepods.[33] The species of this zooplankton eaten by blue whales varies from ocean to ocean. In the North Atlantic, *Meganyctiphanes norvegica*, *Thysanoessa raschii*, *Thysanoessa inermis* and *Thysanoessa longicaudata* are the usual food;[48][49][50] in the North Pacific, *Euphausia pacifica*, *Thysanoessa inermis*, *Thysanoessa longipes*, *Thysanoessa spinifera*, *Nyctiphanes symplex* and *Nematoscelis megalops*;[51][52][53] and in the Southern Hemisphere, *Euphausia superba*, *Euphausia crystallorophias*, *Euphausia valentini*, and *Nyctiphanes australis*.

An adult blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in a day.[34]
 The whales always feed in the areas with the highest concentration of
krill, sometimes eating up to 3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb) of krill in a
single day.[33] The daily energy requirement of an adult blue whale is in the region of 1.5 million kilocalories.[54]
 Their feeding habits are seasonal. Blue whales gorge on krill in the
rich waters of the Antarctic before migrating to their breeding grounds
in the warmer, less-rich waters nearer the equator. The blue whale can
take in up to 90 times as much energy as it expends, allowing it to
build up considerable energy reserves.[55][56][57]

Because krill move, blue whales typically feed at depths of more than
 100 metres (330 ft) during the day and only surface-feed at night. Dive
 times are typically 10 minutes when feeding, though dives of up to
21 minutes are possible. The whale feeds by lunging forward at groups of
 krill, taking the animals and a large quantity of water into its mouth.
 The water is then squeezed out through the baleen plates by pressure
from the ventral pouch and tongue. Once the mouth is clear of water, the
 remaining krill, unable to pass through the plates, are swallowed. The
blue whale also incidentally consumes small fish, crustaceans and squid
caught up with krill.[58][59]

### Life history

A blue whale calf with its mother

Mating starts in late autumn and continues to the end of winter.[60]
 Little is known about mating behaviour or breeding grounds. Females
typically give birth once every two to three years at the start of the
winter after a gestation period of 10 to 12 months.[60]
 The calf weighs about 2.5 tonnes (2.8 short tons) and is around 7
metres (23 ft) in length. Blue whale calves drink 380–570 litres
(100–150 U.S. gallons) of milk a day. Blue whale milk has an energy
content of about 18,300 kJ/kg (4,370 kcal/kg).[61] The calf is weaned
 after six months, by which time it has doubled in length. Sexual
maturity is typically reached at five to ten years of age. In the
Northern Hemisphere, whaling records show that males averaged 20–21 m
(66–69 ft) and females 21–23 m (69–75 ft) at sexual maturity,[62] while in the Southern Hemisphere it was 22.6 and 24 m (74 and 79 ft), respectively.[63]
 In the Northern Hemisphere, as adults, males averaged 24 m (79 ft) and
females 25 m (82 ft), while in the Southern Hemisphere males averaged
25 m (82 ft) and females 26.5 m (87 ft).[62][63]
 In the eastern North Pacific, photogrammetric studies have shown
sexually mature (but not necessarily fully grown) blue whales today
average 21.6 m (71 ft), with a maximum of over 24.4 m (80 ft)[64] – although a 26.5 m (87 ft) female stranded near Pescadero, California in 1979.[65]

Scientists estimate that blue whales can live for at least 80 years,[39][60][66]
 but since individual records do not date back into the whaling era,
this will not be known with certainty for many years. The longest
recorded study of a single individual is 34 years, in the eastern North
Pacific.[67] The whales' only natural predator is the orca.[68] Studies report that as many as 25% of mature blue whales have scars resulting from orca attacks.[39] The mortality rate of such attacks is unknown.

Blue whale strandings are extremely uncommon, and, because of the species' social structure, mass strandings are unheard of.[69] When strandings do occur, they can become the focus of public interest. In 1920, a blue whale washed up near Bragar on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
 It had been shot by whalers, but the harpoon had failed to explode. As
with other mammals, the fundamental instinct of the whale was to try to
carry on breathing at all costs, even though this meant beaching to
prevent itself from drowning. Two of the whale's bones were erected just
 off a main road on Lewis and remain a tourist attraction.[70]