Category: Cetaceans

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale

Beluga whales are only found in the arctic and sub-arctic oceans. They are one of just 2 species in their family Monodontidae, and are unique in their genus of Delphinapterus. It is also known as the white whale, the sea canary and the Melon-head (though the melon-headed dolphin is a species of its own, so this name may cause some confusion.

Adaptions it has for the Arctic, include the fact that it is white in colour, allowing it to blend into the white world more effectively, and the fact it has no dorsal fin, which allows it to swim very close to the ice sheet above.

Growing up to 5.5m in length and up to 1600kg they are a pretty large dolphin. Generally, living in groups of around 10, in the summer, they group together in their hundreds or thousands.

The worlds population is thought to be around 200,000, Some populations move from the edge of the ice cap, into rivers in warmer areas, while others stay around the ice caps year round. Groups of people in both USA and Russia have hunted them for many centuries.

Hunting is not controlled, and as such the drop in population could happen quite fast. Russia and Greenland have killed enough to drop their local population significantly, though thankfully not Alaska or Canada.

They do also have their natural predators in both the killer whale and the Polar bear.

They are the most commonly kept cetaceans in the world, with around 300 in captivity. Japan, USA, Ukraine, Canada, China and Russia as well as a few more.

There are 22 populations around the world, these vary from 39,000 down to as little as 500. The total population is around 200,000. While this number is large, the number hunted is definitely not sustainable. There is also no care to distinguish the different populations, which suggests that sub-populations could be pushed to extinction without any care.

Below, you will find a clip from a bbc documentary which features this species. Below this, is a list of any mentions that the beluga whale has had on this site. Below this, I will list any opportunities to see this species in the wild. Click on list your wild place, to list yours. It takes just a few minutes, and costs nothing – we only charge a commission on any business we send your way.

Brydes whale

Brydes Whale

Brydes whale can refer to the species of whale, but it can also refer to the Brydes whale complex which includes 3 or 4 species (brydes whale, Edens whale, Omera whale (which is sometimes referred to as the Pygmy Brydes whale) and the Rice whale.

Worldwide population is around 90,000-100,000. As a result, the entire species is considered least concern. It is therefore essential to work out if the closely related species of whales, are subspecies or separate species.

Eden whale

Edens whale

Also known as the Sittang (it has been suggested that this is a smaller form of the Brydes whale). It is restricted to the Indo-pacific.

Although a great deal of scientific debate has been had as to whether this was a separate species or not, when genetic testing came along it became clear that this was indeed a separate species.

I am unable to assertain accurate numbers.

Omeras whale

Omura's Whale

Omura’s whale is also known as the dwarf fin whale or little fin whale. Its found in the indo-pacific and Atlantic ocean.

There is little clear information on this species, it is listed on CITES appendix 2.

Rice Whale

Rice Whale

The Rice whale is also known as the Gulf of Mexico whale, is a relatively newly discovered whale. Until 2021, it was thought that this whale was a subpopulation of the Brydes whale, however it is actually genetically distinct.

Growing up to 12.65m and weighing between 13.8-27.2 metric tonnes, it is found in the north-east of the gulf of Mexico. unfortunately it is on the brink of extinction. The deep-water horizon oil spill killed around 20% of the whales of this species. 

While it has not been observed, the killer whale actively hunts in the area, and has regularly killed sperm whales. Brydes whales have also been targeted, so it seems impossible that rice whales are not targeted.

Around 100 of these whales exist, which is very close to extinction. 

Sei Whale

Sei Whale

The third largest after the blue and the fin whale, it is found in most of the worlds deep oceans, though it avoids the tropics and the polar regions. It can reach lengths of 19.5m and weights of 28 tonnes, it is capable of consuming 900kg of food in a day.

It can reach speeds of over 30 mph (50kmh) over short distances making it one of the fastest whales. During commercial whaling, around 250,000 were taken, and the population fell to between 7000 and 13,000. This has thankfully recovered to 80,000 but is clearly still not near its pre-whaling numbers.

Sei is the Norweigen word for the Pollark fish which appears off the coast at the same time of year, to feast on the plankton which is abundant at that time of year.

They generally migrate away from the poles to spend the winters in warmer waters.

Mass stranding events (over 300 dying at a time on occasion) happen from time to time, and while we are not sure what causes this, we think it is likely some sort of poisoning of their waters – such as a red tide. 

Pygmy Sperm Whale

 The Pygmy sperm whale is one of just two species from the Superfamily Kogiidae, the other one being the Sperm whale. They are seen very rarely, with the majority of the knowledge about them, coming from carcasses that wash up on the beach. It was first described in 1834 based on a skull that washed up on the coast of france in 1784 (50 years earlier). While originally placed in the same genus as the sperm whale, it was moved to its own genus Kogia, as it is actually a species which is half way between the dolphins and the sperm whale.

They grow to around 3.5m, which is smaller than many dolphin species.

It has a far smaller brain than the sperm whale (even by comparison size) which my explain why it has such a lot more simple social life.

Pygmy sperm whales are found throughout the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, though there are also seen regularly off Russia. Fossils in Japan, Italy South Africa have been found, suggesting that they were more widely spread. The problem is, that seen rarely at sea, and with most of what we know about coming from carcasses, we have little idea if dead and dying animals behave differently to healthy ones.

Seen rarely, I have been unable to find out how long they can hold their breath, though as the sperm whale can hold its breath for 90 minutes, so its likely that the pygmy sperm whale is also an impressive breath holder – this would explain why they are seen so rarely.

Humpback whale

Humpback whale

The humpback whale is a widely recognized species. Weighing around 40 tonnes, and measuring 14-17m. It is known for its habit of breaching (as above) which can be heard from miles away, and its incredibly complex song, which can last between 4 minutes and 33.

Their low sounds can be heard by whales 1000 miles away, and have been picked up by electronic sources far further away than that.

Whaling did horrific damage to this species, with their population falling to just 5000 in the 1960s. Thankfully, having been protected, the population is now around 135,000. Subspecies are more varied, with those in the northern hemisphere less secure. The least secure is the Arabian sea population, which is thought to be isolated for 70,000 years and there are only 80 that remain.

Threats to individual whales include entanglement in fishing gear, ocean noise and collisions with ships.

They are known to have hunting methods more complex than most baleen whales, including bubble netting which forces the fish into tighter shoals to then be taken in one mouthful.

Young are predated by orca in some parts of the world, and many carry scars from these encounters to the end of their lives.

 

Fin Whale

Fin Whale

The fin whale which is also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is the second longest species of whale, with the largest species growing to a reported 27m, and weighing a maximum recorded weight of 74 tonnes, and a maximum estimated weight of 114 tonnes.

It is a fast swimmer, able to outpace the fastest steamships.

There are 2 recognized subspecies, in the northern and southern hemisphere. Around 725,000 southern fin whales were taken during whaling, and there are around 38,000 that roam the oceans as of 1997. Across the world around 112,000 roam the oceans.

Although the genetic differences between the fin whale and the blue whale are considered similar to that of humans and gorillas (they are thought to have been split for 3.5 million years) and hybrids have been recorded from time to time.

Average dives are around 6 minutes, with the longest dives recorded being around 17 minutes.

Found around the world, though not found close to the polar ice caps at either end of the globe. They appear to be clearly migratory, but it has not been possible to fully work out what this migration pattern might be.

 

 

Blue Whale

Blue whale

The largest species of whale, the largest species of mammal, indeed at almost 30m the largest species ever known to live on earth, they can weigh up to 200 tonnes. There are 4 subspecies with a possible 5 in contention.

Abundant in almost all of the worlds oceans until the 19th century, they were hunted close to extinction. In 1966 hunting of them were banned.

There are places around the world, where these animals can be watched, we hope to link to many of these below.

At their peak, before whaling, it was thought that their was around 350,000 in the world. Now there is between 10,000 and 25,000 around the world.

It is certainly not the time to allow them to be hunted again, far from it.

One recent suggestion, is that whales sink huge quantities of carbon down into the ocean, and that our current problems with global warming might have been tiny if we had not killed the vast majority of most species of Baleen whales.

Below is a small outtake from blue planet, the bbc series from 2001 which features a blue whale in the vastness of the ocean

I have included a second video clip, as this one give you an idea of the size and shape of a blue whale, in a way that little footage does.

Below this is any articles that have been written about blue whales on this website, and below that, we will add any links that might help you see blue whales in the wild.

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