Big Blue: How whales evolved to become ocean titans (Ep 50)

Are whales the biggest animals to have ever lived? Why have they evolved to become so gigantic? What key adaptations support their immense size?

On this episode of Big Biology, we talk to Jeremy Goldbogen (@GoldbogenLab), a scientist at the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University. For the past few years he has been tracking blue whales, aiming to understand how their physiology sustains their massive size, and how food and environment play a role in whale gigantism. We talk about the evolution of extreme size, whether modern whales are bigger than the largest dinosaurs, how whale hearts are adapted for deep sea diving, and the fascinating innovations that both toothed and baleen whales have evolved to get the most out of a meal.

This episode of Big Biology is sponsored by Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. Founded in 1892, Hopkins Marine Station is the oldest marine laboratory on America’s west coast conducting research that addresses fundamental questions at every level of marine biology, from genes to ecosystems.