What is the biggest thing a blue whale can swallow?

Blue whales are filter feeders, meaning they don't actually swallow large objects whole. Instead, they filter small organisms like krill and copepods out of the water using baleen plates in their mouths.

The largest thing a blue whale could potentially take into its mouth would be something about the size of a small car, but it wouldn't be able to swallow it.

Here's why:

* Baleen: Their baleen plates act like a giant sieve, trapping small organisms while letting the water flow out. They cannot swallow large objects.

* Throat: Their throats are surprisingly narrow, only about the size of a grapefruit. This is designed for filtering small creatures, not large objects.

So, while a blue whale might accidentally take a large object into its mouth, it wouldn't be able to swallow it and would likely spit it out.