Geometric Blue Whale

Every six months or so, a new layer of earwax forms inside of the ear canals of a blue whale. This wax helps to carry sound waves and protect the whale’s inner ear. The wax buildup in a blue whale’s inner ear is called an “earplug”. A rather incredible blue whale fact is that scientists can study earplugs from dead whales to measure and estimate how old the whale was. A blue whale’s earplugs are kind of like the rings in a tree trunk, just a bit stickier. Generally blue whales live around 80-90 years, but one earplug measured by scientists suggests that its owner was around 110 years old!