Plausibility of Floating Whales

Ignoring the plausibility of their evolution and sources of food, could a whale-like creature which internally consists largely of hydrogen bladders/gasbags realistically stay aloft?

If these creatures are plausible, would larger creatures be able to float more easily, given that their volume (and hence space for available gasbags) increases with the cube of their size, while the surface area (and hence, weight of the parts that keep the hydrogen inside) increases with the square of their size. (e.g., the square-cube law). If larger creatures do float more easily, what is the minimum size required for such a creature to be plausible?

Note: I am aware of this question, which talks about the evolution of such a creature, and this question, which talks about the uses of a biologically engineered flying whale, but as neither of these directly address the feasibility of the concept, I believe that this is distinct enough not to be a duplicate.

posted over 6 years ago

Gryphon‭

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