Mammals of the WorldSei Whale
Balaenoptera borealis
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Balaenopteridae
- Genus
- Balaenoptera
- IUCN status
- EN
- Distribution
- Angola|Argentina|Australia|Bahamas|Bermuda|Brazil|Cape Verde|Canada|Chile|Dominican Republic|Falkland Islands|Greenland|Guam|Iceland|Ireland|Japan|North Korea|South Korea|Madagascar|Christmas Island|Mauritania|Mexico|Morocco|Namibia|New Zealand|Northern Marianas|Norway|Peru|Portugal|Russia|Réunion|Saint Helena|South Africa|South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|Spain|Turks and Caicos Islands|United Kingdom|United States|Uruguay|Indonesia?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: Coalfish Whale|Northern Rorqual|Pollack Whale|Rudophi's Rorqual|Northern Sei Whale|Southern Sei Whale
About this species
The sei whale ( SAY; Balaenoptera borealis) is a baleen whale. It is one of ten rorqual species, and the third-largest member after the blue and fin whales. It can grow to 19.5 m (64 ft) in length and weigh as much as 28 t (28 long tons; 31 short tons). Two subspecies are recognized: B. b. borealis and B. b. schlegelii. The whale's ventral surface has sporadic markings ranging from light grey to white, and its body is usually dark steel grey in colour. (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is a filter feeder, with its diet consisting primarily of copepods, krill, and other zooplankton. It is typically solitary or can be found in groups numbering half a dozen. The species vocalizations usually last approximately half a second, and occur at 240–625 hertz. "Sei whale" is an anglicization of the Norwegian seihval, meaning "pollock whale". The species was so called because it "appeared off the coast of Norway at the same time each year as the pollock that came to feed on the abundant plankton". (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of sulawesi guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)