These successes encouraged him to marry Elizabeth Shaw, of a prominent Boston family and his first novel not based on his own experiences, Mardi, is a sea narrative that develops into a philosophical allegory, but was not well received. A report estimated there were 5, to 12, blue whales worldwide, the IUCN estimates that there are probably between 10, and 25, blue whales worldwide today. All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July The family Balaenopteridae is believed to have diverged from the families of the suborder Mysticeti as long ago as the middle Oligocene. A model of a skeleton of a blue whale , the largest animal on earth.