The most important step for a pregnant whale in order to give birth must be to eat as much as possible. The total time it takes for a whale to develop in its mother prior to birth (called gestation time) depends on the species of whale but it ranges from 10-18 months. This is longer than human gestation time (9 months).

During pregnancy the mother will continue to feed to support the growth of the whale fetus. Some whales migrate long distances during that time, while others stay within the same habitat.

Lets take the blue whale for example; it is a truly incredible animal, the largest to ever exist! Some of the biggest blue whales are longer than two school buses parked front to back. A baby blue whale (called a calf) takes 10 months to develop in its mother and when it is born it will be bigger than a car. That’s a big baby! The calf requires a lot of energy to grow and once it is born will drink 100 gallons of milk per day. So it is important that the mother gets lot of food to support the growth of the calf during gestation, and to produce enough milk to feed the calf once it is born.