Ian Collison

04-09-12

Fin Whales

Fin Whales otherwise known as Balaenoptera physalus are very rare and illusive

animals which is hard to believe considering they are the second largest of the whale

species and grow to lengths of almost 100 feet. These massive animals can be found in

oceans all over the world but with the recent decline in their population it is become

harder and harder to catch a glimpse of these creatures in their natural habitat. As the

whaling industry continues to go and profit from animals like the Fin Whale the

population of these creatures will forever be at risk. They simply cannot reproduce

quickly enough to balance out for the amount of whales that are being taken each year. If

the hunting and harvesting of these animals continues the chance for this animal to be

able to make a comeback and thrive again are slim to none. However there are many

people who are dedicating their lives to helping the Fin Whale and many creatures who

are facing the same problems. Hopefully with the endangered title to its name the Fin

Whale will be able to make a comeback and grow to what it once was.

Fin Whales are long, sleek animals that are often referred to as the greyhounds of

the ocean. They are much more streamlined than many other large whale species. They

have a pointed snout, paired blowholes, and a broad flat head. They also have very

prominent ridges and plates on their backs giving it another nickname, the razorback.

They have a dark grey pigment along their back and Are white along the bottom. Their

lower jaw is white as well. They have pigment on the side of their head called blaze and

a V shaped feature across the back behind their blowholes. Females live to be about 80
years old which is just slightly longer than males and they grow to approximately 90 feet

in length. Females are usually about 3-10 feet longer than the males and they average out

to weigh around 45-75 tons.

The Fin Whales are found in oceans all over the world but when it comes time to

give birth to their calves they tend to move into warm water for birthing. It also depends

on what time of year the calf is being born. When the calves are born the weigh around 2

tons and are about 21 feet long. The gestation period for these animals is about 11-12

months and it has the fastest fetal growth rate of any whale. It is even greater than that of

the Blue Whale. The Fin Whale will reach sexual maturity around 5-6 years of age and

the females remain fertile until they reach into their late 50s. One of the factors

contributing to the endangerment of the species is the fact that they can only produce a

calf one every 2 or 3 years and on average they will only have 1 calf per pregnancy.

There are certain cases where multiple calves can be born at once but they will usually

die of and that scenario is very rare. The females generally take a 6 month to one year

break from courtship after birthing their calves. Overall the process is very slow and it is

definitely contributing to the declining numbers of their population.

When it comes to feeding the Fin Whale is both similar and different from other

whale species. Similar to almost all other whales the Fin whale feeds on krill. The Fin

Whale has between 262 and 473 plates of baleen on each side of its mouth which it uses

to filter krill out of the water for digestion. There is nothing out of the ordinary about

that, but what is special about the Fin Whale is that it will also feed on schooling fish like

anchovies or herring for example. They can consume approximately 6 tons of food per
day. Another interesting fact about this whale is that they tend to return to the same

feeding grounds that their mother took them to when they were calves once winter roles

around.

The Fin Whale can be found in oceans all over the world but they do have

tendencies when it comes to feeding and spawning. In the summertime the Fin Whales

will migrate to both the Arctic and Antarctic to feed and moving to sub-tropical water

during the winter for mating and calving their young. Most of their time is spent around

the North Atlantic but little is known about them even in this area let alone in areas where

even less time is spent.

The number of whales is decreasing drastically due to over whaling and

commercial fishing. From 1904-1979 nearly 750,000 animals were killed in areas along

the southern hemisphere alone. This overfishing is drastically affecting the ability of the

whale population to recover and if the trend continues it is likely that there will not be

anymore of these whales in the near future.

As far as recovery goes for this animal, that future is also uncertain. As it stands

the fin whale is protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and due to this fact

whaling provisions have been set. Commercial whaling for this species in the North

Pacific ended in 1976 and in the Southern Oceans in 1976-1977 and then in the North

Atlantic in 1978. Fin Whales are still hunted in Greenland legally and have a certain

catch limit which fisherman can reach so as to not effect the population nearly as badly as

in the past. Unfortunately for this species it is hard to tell how much help they really
need because the population is not really certain. We can only tell from whaling activity

patterns and catch reports how the population is doing and biological evidence is scarce.
 Works Cited

"Final Recovery Plan for the Fin Whale." . Office of Protected Resources National

Marine Fisheries Service, July 3 2010. Web. 8 Apr 2012.

<www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/recovery/finwhale.pdf>

"ESA Blawg." . Department of Commerce/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, August 6 2010. Web. 8 Apr 2012.

<www.esablawg.com/esalaw/ESBlawg.nsf/d6plinks/KRII-8843PA>

"Introducing the Second Largest Animal in the World." WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr

2012. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/finwhale/finwhale.html>

"Fin Whales, Balaenoptera physalus." Marine Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr 2012.

<http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=40>.

"Balaenoptera physalus- Fin Whale." . Deartment of Sustainability, water, population,

environment and communities, April 8 2012. Web. 8 Apr 2012.

<http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-

bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=37>