A blue whale’s heart is the size of a Harley-Davidson.

Blue whale underwater with human swimming above it for scale
Credit: Darin Sakdatorn/stock.adobe.com

Blue whales, the largest animals to ever exist, are more massive than most of us can fathom. They can reach lengths of more than 100 feet and weigh up to 330,000 pounds, more than twice the weight of any known dinosaur. 

As such, blue whales need similarly large organs to support their prodigious size — especially their hearts, which are roughly the size of a Harley-Davidson: 5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and about 400 pounds. That makes them the largest blood-pumping organ in the world, more than 14 times the size of an elephant’s heart and 640 times larger than our own.