Mammals of the WorldFin Whale
Balaenoptera physalus
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Balaenopteridae
- Genus
- Balaenoptera
- IUCN status
- VU
- Distribution
- Algeria|Angola|Antarctica|Argentina|Australia|Belgium|Bermuda|Brazil|Cape Verde|Canada|Chile|China|Croatia|Cyprus|Denmark|Ecuador|Egypt|Falkland Islands|Fiji|France|Germany|Greece|Greenland|Iceland|Ireland|Israel|Italy|Japan|North Korea|South Korea|Lebanon|Libya|Christmas Island|Madagascar|Malta|Mauritius|Mexico|Morocco|Mozambique|Namibia|Netherlands|New Caledonia|New Zealand|Norway|Peru|Portugal|Russia|Réunion|Saint Helena|Saudi Arabia|Seychelles|Slovenia|South Africa|South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|Spain|Sweden|Syria|Tunisia|Turkey|United Kingdom|United States|Democratic Republic of the Congo?|Gabon?|Malaysia?|Philippines?|Indonesia?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: Common Rorqual|Finback|Fin-backed Whale|Finner|Herring Whale|Razorback|Northern Fin Whale|Southern Fin Whale
About this species
The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, belongs to baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue whale. The biggest individual reportedly measured 26–27.3 m (85–90 ft) in length, with a maximum recorded weight of 65.5 to 120 tonnes (72.2 to 132.3 short tons; 64.5 to 118.1 long tons). The fin whale's body is long, slender, and brownish-gray in color, with a paler underside to appear less conspicuous from below (countershading). (Wikipedia, general species account).
This species is found in all the major oceans, from polar to tropical waters, and is absent only from waters close to the pack ice at the poles and relatively small areas of water away from the open ocean. Its prey mainly comprises smaller schooling fish, small squid, and crustaceans, including copepods and krill. In 1865, German naturalist Hermann Burmeister described a roughly 15 m (49 ft) specimen, found near Buenos Aires about 30 years earlier, as Balaenoptera patachonicus. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of sulawesi guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)