The origins of the blue whale start with there evolution from surface animal to aquatic animal. All whales are believed to be evolved from land mammals. such as the cow or hippo. In fact the blue whales closest living relative is the hippo. Whales in general started popping up around 45 million years ago, which is 40 million before humans. The modern day blue whale however out shines it prehistoric ancestors. Even the largest dinosaur discovered, though it was longer then the blue whale, only weighed 20 tons. This all however has come at a cost for the species. Due to the demanding living requirements of the animal, they have never had a super large population in the oceans. Blue whales, at there peak of living, only had around 300,000 estimated members, and during the relatively brief period of whaling that specifically targeted Blue whales, there population reached a record low of only around six thousand.
Resources:
http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/bluwale.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318153803.htm
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=41
Resources:
http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/bluwale.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318153803.htm
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=41