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Fin whale - BALAENOPTERA PHYSALUS
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Rorqual": "Rorqual" is an old Norse word for "red whale." Rorquals are those whales that have plates of baleen to strain their food from the seas. "Whale" comes from an old English word, derived from an even more ancient word, all of them simply referring to the animal.
Location: In all the world's oceans.
Habitat: Aquatic. Deep offshore waters, rarely near the coast, never in areas with pack ice.
Description: Like other rorquals, the fin whale is sleek and fast and has grooves on the throat and belly. The brown-black of the back fades on the sides of the body to pure white on the belly. The upper jaw is completely brown but the lower jaw is black on the left and white on the right. In the mouth there are 350 to 450 whalebones (plates of baleen) on each side of the upper jaw. Baleen is unique to these types of whales, and serves as a strainer to capture food. The dorsal fin is set well toward fhe rear of the body, and its prominence gives the whale its name. Length up 80 ft, weight up to an amazing 50 tons (and this isn't even the largest whale).
Behavior: The fin whale is thought to be monogamous, and is generally only seen in small groups. It migrates to colder waters in the summer to feed on the abundant kriIl and fishes there, and then returns in winter to warmer waters in order to reproduce. It can swim at speeds of more than 23 mph and can stay submerged under normal circumstances for about 30 minutes.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts for 11 months. At birth the single young whale measures about 22 feet, and it nurses for six months.
Note:
Go to the Cetacea Page to learn more about the other whale-like animals.
Go to the Index to compare the various Whales found in America Zoo.
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