Baleen Whale Species
"There are many different
baleen whale
species..."
The main groups of them are Right Whales, Rorquals, Gray Whales and Pygmy Right Whales.
Right Whales
Right Whales are large whales that were hunted most of all whales during whaling days. They have got large heads and long elastic baleens.
They swim slowly, come close to the land, have large amounts of oil and were easy targets for whalers. Right whales include Southern Right Whales, North Atlantic Right Whales, North Pacific Right Whales and Bowhead whales.
Rorquals
Rorquals is a large group of whales that includes some of the best known species such as Humpback Whales (some of the most often seen whales), Blue Whales (the largest whales in the world), Fin Whales (second largest whales in the world), Sei Whales, Brydes Whales and the two species of Minke Whales, which are relatively small, not endangered, and are still whaled in some countries.
Gray Whales
The "group" of gray whales is represented by a single species. Gray whales differ too much from other whales to fit into any other groups. The main difference is that while most other baleen whales filter feed in the water, gray whales go down to the bottom and plog the sea floor. They filter shellfish and other marine animals from the ocean bottom mud. But there are other differences too such as the length of gestation period.
Pygmy Right Whales
Pygmy Right Whales are small whales that are only found in the Southern hemisphere, along the coasts of the southern tip of South America, South Africa, southern coast of Australia and all coasts of New Zealand.
Like gray whales, they all belong to one species.
The are similar to right whales, but they are smaller, have smaller head compared to the body size, and have a dorsal fin which right whales lack.
Custom Search
Custom Search
