It should also be noted that differences in methods of measurements often account for discrepancies in reported lengths.
Fin whale
Balaenoptera physalus
p. [26]
- Body large, up to 79 feet (24 m) long.
- Body mostly dark gray or brownish gray; undersides of flukes and flippers and belly white; grayish-white chevron frequently on back behind head.
- Right lower lip white; right upper lip sometimes white; left lip dark.
- Head V-shaped, viewed from above.
- Right front one-third to one-fifth of baleen plates, yellowish white.
- Other baleen bluish gray with yellowish-white stripes.
- Dorsal fin to 24 inches (61 cm), slightly more than one-third forward from tail; forms angle of less than 40° with back.
- Distribution extensive but not very common near pack ice and in tropics.
- Distribution more northerly during summer.
- Flukes not raised on dive.
Sei whale
Balaenoptera borealis
p. [32]
- Body up to 62 feet (19 m) long.
- Body appears shiny; dark gray on back, often with ovoid grayish-white scars; white on front of belly; undersides of flippers and flukes dark.
- Baleen grayish or ash black with fine, light-gray bristles.
- Dorsal fin to 24 inches (61 cm), strongly falcate, well more than one-third forward from tail; forms angle of more than 40° with back.
- Distribution extensive; are not very common in cold waters and may have a greater tendency than fin whales to enter tropical waters.
- Distribution more northerly in summer.
- Flukes not raised on dive.
Bryde's whale
Balaenoptera edeni
p. [37]
- Body up to 46 feet (14 m) long.
- Body dark gray overall.
- Head has series of three ridges from area of blowhole to snout.
- Baleen slate gray with coarse dark bristles.
- Dorsal fin to 18 inches (45.7 cm), falcate, well more than one-third forward from tail, often irregularly worn on rear margin.
- Distribution primarily tropical and southern temperate.
- Flukes not raised on dive.
Humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
p. [40]
- Body up to 53 feet (16.2 m) long.
- Body dark gray with irregular white area on belly; flippers white; underside of flukes often has varying amounts of white.
- Head in front of blowhole flat and covered with knobs.
- Baleen dark gray to black with olive-black bristles.
- Dorsal fin small, quite variable in shape, usually hooked, located on a step or hump, in last one-third of back.
- Flippers very long (to nearly one-third of body length), white, and scalloped on leading edge.
- Distribution at least New England to Iceland and Greenland during summer.
- Distribution to shallow tropical banks, winter and spring.
- Flukes often scalloped on trailing edges and sometimes raised on dive.