I understand, generally, *how* they got that big but not *why*. What was the evolutionary advantage to their massive size? Is there one? Or are they just big for the sake of being big?
In: Biology
There might be a sexual selection component to it. If female blue whales prefer the biggest mates, this starts a virtuous cycle where their offspring will have the genes for “liking the biggest males” and “being big”.
It’s the same idea behind peacock tails. Female peacocks started liking males with the biggest tail feathers, so they reproduced and the offspring carried both of those genes, amplifying the effect.
You have to remember that the only advantage evolution cares about is reproduction. Sure, if you are harder to kill, you have more time to reproduce, but let’s take out the middleman. I will say it is speculation on my part that this is the same for blue whales, but the answer might just be “Fashion!”
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