0
Fin Whales
Belonging to the suborder of baleen whales, the fin whale is the second longest animal in the world, and the second largest rorqual after the blue whale. It is also called finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual.
58 Questions
How is the fin whales becoming extinct other than for consumer uses?
The fin whale is endangered, but its numbers are increasing, since many nations that once killed whales have stopped, so there is hope they can recover.
Are Fin whales related to Minke whales?
Yes, they are related to one another. They are both in the family Balaenopteridae, which is in the subspecies of whales called Baleen Whales.
Why is the fin whale called the fin whale?
Here are some facts about fin whales:
- Fin whales feed mainly on krill but also eat schooling fish including herring,cod, mackerel, pollock, sardine, and capelin. Fish are eaten more often in winter.
- The fin whale is the fastest swimming of all the large whales and is sometimes referred to as the "greyhound of the seas." Fin whales can swim at up to 30 mph (48 kmh) in short bursts when alarmed and at up to 18 mph (30 kmh) when migrating and cruising.
- The fin whale can dive for up to 20 minutes at a time, and to depths reaching 1800 feet.
- Fin whales are often found swimming alone or in small pods of up to 8, although they may be found swimming with larger groups of whales during feeding periods.
- The population is between 50,000 and 90,000
- The average gestation period for these whales is about 12 months
- Females are larger than the males by 5-10% Can weigh between 40 and 80 tons.
- They are the second largest living animal and species of whale on earth behind the blue whale.
- This species has a global distribution but is quite rare in tropical or iced polar seas. It occurs in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans.
- The species is split into two subspecies which do not appear to come into contact, one in the south (B. p. quoyi) and one in the north (B. p. physalus).
- They are also known as Common rorqual, Finback, Fin-backed whale, Finner, Herring Whale and Razorback.
- They are part of the Balaenopteridae family.
- Fin whales can take up to 30 years to reach full physical maturity and may live for 90 years or longer.
Is a fin whale baleen or toothed?
The fin whale is a rorqual whale, the same family as the blue whale. It feeds by filtering krill trough huge plates of a horny substance called baleen. So yes, it is a baleen whale.
What is being done to save the fin whales form becomeng exstinct?
There are couple of conservation efforts going on at the moment. The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team was established to develop a plan to reduce the incidental serious injury and mortality of fin whales, right whales, humpback whales, and minke whales in the South Atlantic shark gillnet fishery, the Gulf of Maine and Mid-Atlantic lobster trap/pot fishery, the Mid-Atlantic gillnet fishery, and the Gulf of Maine sink gillnet fishery. As well, Sea Shepherd is leading the effort to defend and protect fin whales from the harpoons of the illegal Japanese whalers in the Antarctic.
Which ocean do fin whales live?
Fin whales prefer temperate and polar waters, and can be are found in all oceans around the world.
