Baleen Whales

Humpback Whale

The Humpback Whale weighs up to 40 tonnes. Despite this, it is extremely active and a powerful swimmer.

Humpbacks can be identified by lumps or knobs on the top of their head. They also have very long, whitish pectoral fins and often rest at the surface with one fin extended into the air.

Humpbacks prefer to live along coasts. They have been known to swim into harbours and even up river estuaries. They feed on plankton (tiny floating animals) and small fish in cold waters. Antarctica with its rich supply of plankton attracts Humpback whales every year.

They migrate to the tropical seas to give birth.

Humpbacks’ behaviour is fascinating to observe and they are favourites with whale-watching tourists. Despite their huge size, they are quite acrobatic, leaping out of the sea in pursuit of fish.

Humpback songs are some of the most beautiful and varied of any whale species.

Humpbacks were hunted to low numbers but populations seem to be recovering slowly.

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)

The huge Blue Whale is actually blue-grey. At 30m long and 150 tonnes it is the largest animal ever known to have existed.

In spring, it migrates to cold polar seas to feed and returns to warmer subtropical areas to breed in the winter.

Blue whales have row of 300- 400 baleen plates on each side of the mouth, which are black in color and range in length from 50 cm in front to 100 cm in back. The species dives for 10 - 20 minutes periods, and usually feed at depths of less than 100m.

Blue Whales are found in all oceans of the world. However, it is facing extinction.

Finback Whales (Balaenoptera physalus)

Fin Whales are fast swimmers and second only to the Blue Whale in size. They look positively slender compared to other whales because the blubber is much thinner.

The distinguishing characteristic of Fin Whales is the mouth which is black on the left and white on the right.

Fin Whales feed on crustaceans, squid and fish, often close inshore. They feed in cool waters in summer but migrate to warmer waters to breed.