Fin whale
The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is a huge baleen whale. It is the second largest animal on Earth (the blue whale is the biggest). This whale is sometimes called the "greyhound of the sea" because of its fast swimming speed; it can swim up to 23 mph (37 km/hr) in short bursts. The fin whale is also called the finback, finner, razorback, common rorqual, and herring whale.
| Fin whale[1] | |
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| A fin whale surfacing in Greenland | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Balaenopteridae |
| Genus: | Balaenoptera |
| Species: | B. physalus
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| Balaenoptera physalus | |
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| Fin whale range | |
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List
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Description
The fin whale is a streamlined whale that is found worldwide; it is most common in the North Atlantic. There are three separate populations of fin whales, one in the North Pacific, one in the North Atlantic, and one in the Southern Hemisphere; they do not interbreed. Many groups of fin whales migrate between feeding grounds and breeding grounds. This whale usually swims in pods of 3-7 whales but larger groups (up to 300 animals) may form at rich feeding grounds.
Diet and baleen
Fin whales are filter feeders that eat plankton (tiny crustaceans like krill and copepods) and small fish from the water. They have very fine grey-black baleen that traps very small particles of food. Each side of the upper jaw has 270-470 baleen plates.
Fin Whale Media
A cladogram of animals related to the fin whale
A fin whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, showing characteristic backswept dorsal fin
A frontal view of a fin whale, showing asymmetrical colouration
Surfacing in the Kenai Fjords, Alaska
Drawing of a fin whale on a Faroese stamp, issued 17 September 2001
Fin whale and a boat in the Strait of Gibraltar
Fin whale skull, San Diego Natural History Museum
Overhead view of a fin whale feeding
Fin whale lunge feeding at the surface
Fin whale being flensed at the Hvalfjörður whaling station in Iceland, showing the baleen bristles used to filter prey organisms
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References
- ↑ Mead, J.G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 725. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ↑ Cooke, J.G. (2018). "Balaenoptera physalus (worldwide)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2018: e.T2478A50349982. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ↑ European Mammal Assessment team (2007). "Balaenoptera physalus (Europe)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2007: e.T2478A9448238. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ↑ Fischer, Johann Baptist (1829). Synopsis Mammalium. p. 525.
- ↑ Hist. Nat. Gén. et Partie, des Mamm. et Oiseaux découverts depuis 1788
- ↑ Nat. Hist. Cetacea
- ↑ Académie Royale Des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Bruxelles) (1859). Bulletins de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts ... – Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Bruxelles) – Google ubNX. p. 403. ISBN 9781013223624.
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Wikispecies has information on: Balaenoptera physalus. |