Northern fin whale

The northern fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus physalus) is a subspecies of fin whale that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean.[1] It has been proposed that the northern Pacific population represents a separate subspecies, B. p. velifera.[2][3] At least one other subspecies of fin whale, the southern fin whale (B. p. quoyi), exists in the southern hemisphere.[1]

Northern fin whale[1]
Size compared to an average human
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: Balaenoptera
Species:
B. physalus
Subspecies:
B. p. physalus
Trinomial name
Balaenoptera physalus physalus

Size

Northern fin whales are smaller than their southern hemisphere counterparts, with adult males averaging 18.5 m (61 ft) and adult females 20 m (66 ft).[4] Maximum reported figures are 22.9 m (75 ft) for males and 24.7 m (81 ft) for females in the North Pacific, while the longest reliably measured were 20.8 m (68 ft) and 22.9 m (75 ft) — all were caught off California, the former in the 1920s and the latter in the 1960s.[5] At sexual maturity, males average 16.8–17.6 m (55–58 ft) in the North Atlantic and 17.4–17.7 m (57–58 ft) in the North Pacific, while females average 17.7–19.1 m (58–63 ft) in the North Atlantic and 18.3–18.6 m (60–61 ft) in the North Pacific. At birth, calves are 6.4 m (21 ft) in the North Pacific.[4]

Reproduction

Because of the opposing seasons in each hemisphere, B. p. physalus breeds at a different time of the year than B. p. quoyi. Peak conception for B. p. physalus is December–January, while peak birthing is in November–December — in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Balaenoptera physalus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  2. NOAA (2019-10-28). "Genetics reveal Pacific subspecies of fin whale". phys.org. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  3. Archer, F. I.; Brownell, R. L.; Hancock-Hanser, B. L.; Morin, P. A.; Robertson, K. M.; Sherman, K. K.; Calambokidis, J.; Urbán R., J.; Rosel, P. E; Mizroch, S. A.; Panigada, S.; Taylor, B. L.; Moratelli, R. (2019). "Revision of fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) subspecies using genetics". Journal of Mammalogy. 100 (5): 1653–1670. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyz121.
  4. Evans, Peter G. H. (1987). The Natural History of Whales and Dolphins. Facts on File.
  5. Clapham; et al. (1997). "Catches of Humpback and Other Whales from Shore Stations at Moss Landing and Trinidad, California, 1919-1926". Mar. Mam. Sci. 13 (3): 368–94. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.1997.tb00646.x.
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