Fin Whale

Scientific name: Balaenoptera physalus

Fascinating Fact: The Fin whale is the second largest animal on earth!

The Fin Whale is the second largest animal on the earth.  The blue whale is the largest at a massive 120 tonnes but the fin whale is quite close behind at 80 tonnes. It can measure up to 22 metres long and has a long slender body.

    Feeding

Fin whales are baleen whales so they do not have any teeth.  Instead they have plates of hairy tissue similar to your fingernails hanging down from their upper jaws.  These baleen plates are used to catch their prey in their mouths.  They open their mouths wide and take a huge mouthful of water -- and litte fish.  Then they squirt the water out through the baleen and trap the fish which they then swallow.  Their favourite food is herring and they are often called "herring whales" because of this.

    Rorqual Whale

In order to get a big enough mouthful of food, fin whales have a throat which can expand into a huge sack.  Their throat has grooves along it, a bit like a concertina, and these can open up to let their throat enlarge.  When they do this their throats look red.  Norwegian whales used to call them red whales, "rød kval", and so whales with this type of expandable throat are called rorqual whales.

    Physical Features

The fin whale is white underneath and dark on top but its head has unusual asymmetrical colouration.  The left side of its head and mouth is dark and the right side is white.

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