Blue whale vs Whale shark
Blue whale (29.9 m) is 1.59× the size of whale shark (18.8 m).
Whale shark is 63% of the height of blue whale. The gap between them is 11.1 m (36.4 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue whale | 29.9 m | 98.1 ft | length |
| Whale shark | 18.8 m | 61.7 ft | length |
What the scale shows
Blue whale (29.9 m) is 1.59× the size of whale shark (18.8 m). The gap between them is 11.1 m (36.4 ft). Both are animals, so the figures describe the same kind of thing.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 63% of the frame while the larger one runs to the top. The two are close enough that the difference is easy to see side by side.
Read the rest — 8 more sections
What each figure means
The figure for blue whale is its length (the longest reliably measured individual). The figure for whale shark is its length (the largest confirmed individual).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing blue whale's 29.9 m takes 21 seconds and whale shark's 18.8 m takes 13 seconds.
In people: blue whale is 18 adults of 1.7 m tall, whale shark is 11.1. By size blue whale is 1st of the 23 animals on this site and whale shark is 2nd, so 1 place separates them in the ranking.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The blue whale is given as a length, the longest reliably measured individual. The whale shark is given as a length, the largest confirmed individual. Both are length figures, so putting them on one baseline is a like-for-like comparison, although the exact individual or convention still matters.
Animal sizes vary from one individual to the next, so each figure says which individual or average it describes. Heights are taken at the shoulder or standing; lengths run nose to tail tip unless stated.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, the blue whale is number 63 from the top and the whale shark is number 64. No other item falls between them, so in this collection they are direct neighbours.
Because the collection spans 13 mm up to 1,392,700 km, a ratio of 107,130,769,231× from smallest to largest, the position of a pair says a lot: both sit in the lower third of the list.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.59× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the blue whale would have about 2.53× the surface or footprint of the whale shark, and about 4.02× the volume. For animals volume tracks weight, which is why a long animal is far heavier than its length suggests, and why a small animal cannot simply be a scaled-down copy of a large one.
The drawing above shows length only. The whale shark is drawn 63% as tall as the blue whale, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 39.5%, which is why the smaller one looks even slighter than the numbers alone suggest.
Time to cross each one
A sprinter holding about 10 m/s covers the blue whale in 3 seconds and the whale shark in 1.9 seconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 87 milliseconds for the larger and 55 milliseconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 120 milliseconds and 75 milliseconds.
These times assume a straight line and constant speed, which no real crossing has, but they turn a number in metres into something the body understands. At any fixed speed the travel times keep the same 1.59× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The blue whale measures 29.9 m, which is 98.1 ft or 32.7 yards. The whale shark measures 18.8 m, which is 61.7 ft.
The difference between them is 11.1 m (36.4 ft). In metres the smaller one is 18.8 against 29.9, so the 1.59× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the blue whale or the whale shark?
The blue whale is bigger. At 29.9 m it is 1.59× the size of the whale shark, which is 18.8 m.
How many times does the whale shark fit along the blue whale?
Less than twice: the whale shark is 63% of the size of the blue whale, so one fits with 11.1 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
Yes in kind: both are length figures. The blue whale is the longest reliably measured individual; the whale shark is the largest confirmed individual.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the blue whale is about 18 people tall and the whale shark is about 11.1. The gap of 11.1 m is 6.5 people.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each item has its own page that names the measurement and links to the Wikipedia article it was taken from. Some figures are rounded, and animals vary from one individual to the next, so treat them as representative values rather than records for every case.
How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.