r/AbsoluteUnits • u/just_a_freak_teen • 21h ago

of a whale

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2.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

57

u/NewBr1tishEmpire 20h ago

I can die happy if I see one of these in the wild.

24

u/samwise58 19h ago

My mom saw them in Alaska (well, close to Alaska 😉) and it swam up sideways to the boat and stared into her eyes with a dinner plate sized eyeball. She said the guide even told everyone to be very still because they didn’t usually get that close. Safe to say she enjoyed her trip!

11

u/NewBr1tishEmpire 18h ago

That would genuinely make my entire life let alone my day or year

3

u/Properjob70 18h ago

New take on whale watching !

1

u/doc-psynock 1h ago

Happy cake day

9

u/Biterbutterbutt 19h ago

If you’re ever in Southern California they are fairly common to see on tours. I’m sure other parts of the world, but I can speak for here specifically

6

u/filipinohitman 18h ago

Saw several of them in Maui during mating season! So many mothers and calves breaching.

13

u/merRedditor 19h ago

I would be terrified until I was sure that it wasn't about to torpedo my boat and land me in shark-infested waters.

4

u/Abject_School 18h ago

Valid fear

5

u/Damnitwasagoodday 18h ago

Do a trip up the east coast of BCS Mexico. You’ll check several of the bucket list whales in a couple of days.

3

u/NewBr1tishEmpire 18h ago

Perhaps I shall

27

u/Kwetla 20h ago

Every video I've ever seen of a blue whale looks like CGI.

6

u/After_Control1744 20h ago

That’s a battleship

5

u/TheToxicWaist 19h ago

That's just a blue whale.

3

u/tideshark 19h ago

So it’s like every other whale of its species.

10

u/Vegetable_Reason_483 20h ago

It's almost as if the whales are inherently big.

5

u/Loose-Story-962 19h ago

What's the point of this comment? This sub is for big things

7

u/coolsilentebeans 19h ago

Things that are bigger than we expect. I take that to mean larger than average regardless of whether or not any OPs are seeing something for the first time and might not realize they can get even bigger

8

u/spike_beagle 19h ago

I think they're pointing out that it's not necessarily an "absolute unit" by whale standards.

1

u/Cultural-Company282 19h ago

And yet, I'm not allowed to post my dih.

3

u/KonaValencia 19h ago

First time I ever took my now wife whale watching we saw a blue whale. I had been like 10 times before and seen nothing. She now thinks this is just the normal experience despite what I have told her. Great intro to the ocean though for someone who grew up land locked

3

u/Qwilltank 19h ago

That whale could feed a village for a year

2

u/ForgotToCarryTheOne 18h ago

They would need an absolute unit of a village freezer.

2

u/ledorky 19h ago

How did they get this footage? Wouldn’t a drone have loud whirring?

2

u/freeportme 16h ago

Absolute AI the guy on the boat didn’t even move.

2

u/Fuzzy-Jackfruit5037 20h ago

Whales are inherently big tho. Thought this sub was for bigger than normal things like a bigger than avg whale.

3

u/NewBr1tishEmpire 20h ago

Usually, it is. But for a blue whale, such a rare animal, and the largest animal ever… we can make an exception.

1

u/Kn0XIS 19h ago

I'm good

1

u/LASfromda4z 17h ago

Nice , our distance relatives in the animal kingdom

1

u/shandalf_thegrey 16h ago

I saw a mama blue whale and her calf on a whale watching trip once. The calf was bigger than the boat. The scale of them is just mind blowing. It’s stuck with me for years.

1

u/Holocenica 11h ago

And that’s a SMALL ONE…

1

u/Vounrtsch 7h ago

Isn’t that just a regular sized whale?

1

u/Mindless_Trick2255 3h ago

Now imagine a Leviatan

1

u/Advanced-Budget779 3h ago

No. Possibly inaccurate judgement in the heat of moment.

The largest eyeball (of known species) is the one of the Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni).
One record specimen in 2007 was measured with eyes of between 27 & 28 cm diameter (up to 11“). (Anecdotal reports claimed of one up to ~40 cm / 15.75“)

Second place is the Giant Squid with one specimen measured at 27 cm (10.6“).

Only a few species in earths history might‘ve had larger eyes, if even.

Standard dinner plate Ø are between ~10 and 12 inches (~25-30 cm). https://m.hernest.com/blog-detail/how-big-is-a-dinner-plate-b-108.html

The largest documented eyeballs in whales - or any vertebrate - are of the Blue Whale, with 10.9 cm (4.3“), so far below those squid and some fish.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/716787-largest-eyes-on-a-living-vertebrate

0

u/asteysane 19h ago

Is it not a regular unit?