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The family Balaenidae, the right whales, contains two genera and four species. All right whales have no ventral grooves; a distinctive head shape with a strongly arched, narrow rostrum, bowed lower jaw; lower lips that enfold the sides and front of the rostrum; and long, narrow, elastic baleen plates (up to nine times longer than wide) with fine baleen fringes.
The blue whale is a slender-bodied cetacean with a broad U-shaped head; thin, elongated flippers; a small 33 centimeters (13 in) sickle-shaped dorsal fin located close to the tail, and a large tail stock at the root of the wide and thin flukes. The upper jaw is lined with 70–395 black baleen plates. The throat region has 60–88 grooves which ...
Orca attacking a strap-toothed beaked whale. Orcas also prey on larger species such as sperm whales, grey whales, humpback whales and minke whales. [84] [40] On three separate occasions in 2019 orcas were recorded to have killed blue whales off the south coast of Western Australia, including an estimated 18–22-meter (59–72 ft) individual. [89]
Some species, such as the humpback whale, communicate using melodic sounds, known as whale song. These sounds may be extremely loud, depending on the species. Humpback whales only have been heard making clicks, while toothed whales use sonar that may generate up to 20,000 watts of sound (+73 dBm or +43 dBw) [55] and be heard for many miles.
Commonly exploited species included arctic whales such as the gray whale, right whale, and bowhead whale because they were close to the main whaling ports, like New Bedford. After those stocks were depleted, rorquals in the South Pacific were targeted by nearly all whaling organizations; however, they often out-swam whaling vessels.
In 1946, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established, to monitor and secure whale stocks. Whaling of 14 large species for commercial purposes was prohibited worldwide by this organization from 1985 to 2005, though some countries do not honor the prohibition. [citation needed] Whales caught 2010–2014, by country
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The fluke of this species measures 2–6 m (6 ft 7 in – 19 ft 8 in) long and the 230 to 360 baleen plates are thought to grow to 4 m (13 ft) long, which is longer than that of any other whale by more than a meter. This species is sexually dimorphic as females usually reach lengths of 16–18 m (52–59 ft), while males average 14–16 m (46 ...