There are currently 86 species of recognized whales, dolphins and dolphins. Of these, 14 are Mysticetes or Whales. Baleen whales have whisker plates in the upper jaws, not teeth. These plates allow whales to feed on large amounts of prey at once while filtering out seawater.
This list includes all known baleen whale species, many of which you may already know other names.
Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Blue whales are believed to be the largest animals ever made on Earth. They grow to 100 feet long and weigh about 200 tons. Their skin is beautiful grayish blue, often with mottled light spots. This pigmentation allowed the researchers to distinguish between individual blue whales because the patterns of different whales vary.
Blue whales also make the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom. These low-frequency sounds travel a long way underwater. Some scientists speculate that without interference, the blue whale's sound could have spread from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Balaenoptera physalus
Fin whales are the second largest animal in the world, and their mass is even greater than that of any dinosaur. Despite their large size, they are fast, streamlined whales that sailors jokingly refer to as "greyhounds of the sea." Fin whales have a unique asymmetrical color: there is a white patch on the right jaw, while the left side of the whale does not.
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Balaenoptera borealis
Sei (pronounced "say") Whales are one of the fastest whale species. They are streamlined animals with a black back, a white underside, and a curved dorsal fin. Their name comes from the Norwegian word for seje – whales and cod often appear near the Norwegian coast at the same time.
Brucea whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
Breid Whale (pronounced "broodus") is named after John Brede, who built the first whaling station in South Africa. Brucell's whales look similar to stopper whales, except that they have three ridges on their heads, while stopper whales have one.
Bryde whales are 40 to 55 feet long and weigh 45 tons. The scientific name of the Brucell whale is Balaenoptera edeni, but there is growing evidence that two species of Brinell whale may actually exist: a coastal species called Balaenoptera edeni and an offshore form called Balaenoptera brydei.
Omura Whale (Balaenoptera omurai)
The Omura whale species, first designated in 2003. Previously, it was thought to be a smaller form of The Brinell whale, but recent genetic evidence supports classifying this whale as a separate species.
Although the exact extent of the Omura whale is unknown, limited sightings confirm that it lived in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including southern Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Solomon Sea. Its appearance resembles that of a stopper whale because it has a ridge on its head, and its head is also thought to have an asymmetrical color, similar to a fin whale.
Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Humpback whales are medium-sized baleen whales, about 40 to 50 feet long and weigh 20 to 30 tons. They have very distinctive long, wing-like pectoral fins, about 15 feet long. Long migrations take place between high-latitude feeding grounds and low-latitude breeding grounds in each season
Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus)
The gray whale is about 45 feet long and weighs 40 tons. They have a gray background and a mottled color of light spots and patches.
There are now two populations of gray whales: the California gray whales found in forage sites near Baja California, Mexico, to the California gray whales found in foraging grounds near Alaska, and a small population off the coast of East Asia, called the Northwest Pacific or South Korean gray whale stock. There used to be a herd of gray whales in the North Atlantic, but they are now extinct.
Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
Common minke whales are divided into 3 subspecies: balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata in the North Atlantic, Balaenoptera acutorostrata scammoni in the North Pacific, and dwarf minke whales (whose scientific names have not yet been determined).
Minke whales are as small as whales, but are still 20 to 30 feet long. They are widely distributed, with minke whales found in the North Pacific and North Atlantic antarctica in the northern hemisphere, and minke whales near the equator in winter.
Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)
Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) was proposed as a separate species from the common minke whale in the late 1990s.
This minke whale is slightly larger than its more northern relatives and has grey pectoral fins instead of the grey fins with white pectoral fin patches seen on ordinary minke whales.
As their name suggests, Antarctic minke whales are usually in Antarctica in the summer and close to the equator in the winter (for example, near South America, Africa, and Australia).
Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
The head whale (Balaena mysticetus) got its name from its bowed jaw. They are 45 to 60 feet long and weigh up to 100 tons. Bowhead whales have fat layers of more than 1 1/2 feet thick to isolate the Arctic They live under the native whales of the Arctic are still hunting bowheads The International Whaling Commission permits indigenous whaling activities
North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)
The North Atlantic right whale got its name from whalers, who thought it was the "right" whale to hunt because it moved slowly and would surface after being killed. The whales grow to about 60 feet long and weigh up to 80 tons. They can be identified by the rough skin or callosum on their head.
North Atlantic right whales spend the summer foraging season near the frigid northern latitudes of Canada and New England, and spend the winter breeding season off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica)
Until about 2000, the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica) was considered to be the same species as the North Atlantic right whale, but since then it has been considered a separate species.
Due to extensive whaling from the 1500s to the 1800s, the species has been reduced to a fraction of its previous size, with an estimated 500 remaining.
Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)
Like the whales of the north, the Southern Right Whale is large and massive, reaching up to 55 feet long and weighing 60 tons.
This whale has an interesting habit of "sailing" in strong winds, lifting its huge tail fin above the water. Like many other large whale species, the Southern Right Whale migrates between warmer, lower-latitude breeding grounds and colder high-latitude feeding grounds. They breed in considerably different locations, including parts of South Africa, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.
Pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata)
The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) is the smallest and probably the least known baleen whale species. Like other right whales, it has a curved mouth and is thought to feed on copepods and krill. The whales are about 20 feet long and weigh about 5 tons.
Pygmy right whales live in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere. Classified as "data lacking" on the IUCN Red List, which states that they may be "naturally rare ... It is difficult to detect or identify, or its concentrated area has not yet been discovered. ”