Fin Whale

The fin whale is a long, streamlined rorqual and the second-largest living mammal. Adults have a brown-gray back, deep white underside, a distinct ridge along the back, and a curved dorsal fin positioned far behind the body’s midpoint. Its coloration is asymmetrical around the head, with a conspicuous white patch on the lower right jaw. Around 100 throat pleats expand the mouth during feeding, while 350–400 baleen plates filter prey from engulfed seawater. (Animal Diversity Web)

Fin whales inhabit every major ocean, chiefly in temperate and polar coastal, shelf, and pelagic waters deeper than 200 m. Winter records include the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, and Philippine Sea. Many populations migrate toward colder feeding areas in spring and summer before returning to warmer breeding waters. They commonly form groups of six to ten, with much larger aggregations around feeding grounds. Their diet consists mainly of plankton-sized crustaceans, schooling fish, squid, and other marine organisms captured by filter feeding. (Animal Diversity Web)