Welcome! Today we are going to learn all about blue whales and Hindi! That means while we learn about blue whales, we are also going to build our Hindi vocabulary! So we’ll learn about science, this majestic animal, ALL while learning Hindi at the same time!
Inside:
- Facts about Neeli Vhel’s
- Hindi Vocabulary
- Hindi Pronunciation Guides
- Neeli Vhel Story
- Photos
- Videos
How To Pronounce Blue Whale in Hindi
First, let’s talk about how to pronounce Blue whale in Hindi. Click on the recording to hear it.
Neeli = blue in Hindi
Vhel rhymes with whale
The vhel part might seem silly, but actually there’s a reason for it. In Hindi there is no “W” sound like we are accustomed to in English, as in the words: Wednesday, when, why, and wonder. The “W’ sound in English ends up as a “V” sound in Hindi.
And in my experience, any English words that have been adopted into conversational Hindi are best pronounced with an Indian accent. That’s why in the recording you hear me pronounce it as vhel instead of vhale.
Inflection On The Name: Neeli Vhel
Now, why is it neeli, instead of neela? Well, this gets deeper into understanding Hindi grammar, but the short explanation is that the Hindi fairies who created Hindi (the language wasn’t actually created by fairies, but since I teach children, that’s what I refer to them as), decided that whales would be categorized as female. That means that the adjectives and pronouns used when describing neeli vhel’s, in Hindi, will be feminine.
When the ending of a word changes as in “neeli” and “neela”, that’s called inflection. Inflection exists in many languages such as Spanish, French, German and Hungarian. How, what, and why they inflect is not the same across languages, as every language has its own grammar and rules.
Inflection is not a concept in English, thus when learning Hindi it’s a concept that can take some getting used to.
Neeli Vhel Facts
Blue Whale – Neeli Vhel Fact 1: Did you know that neeli vhel’s are the largest animal that has ever existed on planet Earth? Yep! They’re even bigger than the dinosaurs. Just, kitni badi hoti hain? About the size of theen school buses.
A neeli vhel can be anywhere from 85ft. to 110ft. That’s approximately the size of 3 (theen) school buses! Neeli vhel’s in the Northern Hemisphere tend to be on the lower end of the range in the 85ft-100ft. range and the larger ones are generally found in the southern Hemisphere.
Blue Whale – Neeli Vhel Fact 2: Neeli Vhel’s do not breach. See the photo below, of the whale jumping out of the water (paani)? That’s called breaching. And neeli vhel’s dont do that. Why not? Because they’re too big! They weigh anywhere from 290,000 to 300,000lbs.! Can you imagine trying to lift that much weight into the air?!
The image below is of a Humpback vhel. They are also large, but not as large as Neeli Vhel’s and Humpbacks are known for breaching.
Blue Whale Neeli Vhel Fact 3: Neeli Vhel’s don’t have teeth (daanth). Instead they have something called baleen, inside their mouths. Baleen is kinda like if you having toothbrush bristles in your mouth, as you can see in the picture below.
Neeli vhel’s are filter-feeders. That means that when a Neel Vhel opens its mouth (moonh) krill, anchovies and water (paani) flood inside. And when it closes its mouth, the krill and anchovies stay inside (andar) and the paani escapes through the bristles.
What Do Neeli Vhel’s Eat?
First, let’s learn how to ask that question in Hindi. The words are, “Neel Vhel kyaa khaathay hain?” And you can hear how it’s pronounced in the audio clip below.
Now that you know how to ask the question in Hindi, let’s learn a little about a Neeli Vhel’s khaana (food). The little crustacean you see below is called krill. Neeli Vhel’s eat krill as well as anchovies. And they can eat approximately 8,000lbs. per day!
The life of a Neeli Vhel is pretty simple. They spend most of their time feeding. And in the video below, from my recent whale watching safari, you’ll see that when the Neeli Vhel took that deep dive down into the ocean, it was going down to feed.
Where Do Blue Whales Live?
How do we ask that question in Hindi? We say, “Neeli vhel kahaa rehthee hai?” And you can hear how it’s pronounced in the recording.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Neeli vhel’s are usually found along the coast of California, Mexico and Eastern Canada but they actually live in every saagar (ocean), except for the Arctic. They are more readily found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Neeli vhel’s are generally alone or in pairs.
Samta Aunty’s Whale Watching Video
Southern California is a fantastic place to go whale watching. And you’ll find blue whales from mid-June through September. I went whale watching in June 2021 and was lucky enough to see a neeli vhel. Below is a short clip from my safari.
Neeli Vhel Ki Dil Aur Munh
The dil (heart) of a neeli vhel is approximately the same size as a choti gaadi (a small car)! In other words, as far as heart’s go, that’s huge.
You can see the neeli vhel’s baleen in the photo (above). You can clearly see the bristles. This is the only preserved blue whale mouth and jaw bones in the world. I was fortunate to visit this incredible exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
Story Time With Samta Aunty
Resources To Learn More About Blue Whales
Summary
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on Blue Whales and Hindi. I hope you learned about these majestic mammals while also building your Hindi vocabulary.
We talked about:
- Facts about Neeli Vhel’s
- Where they live
- What they eat
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