Types of whales in the world.

Whale statistics - these are very variable. If you do any research on whales on the internet, or in books, you will find that there are wide differences in the recorded length and mass of the various species. Lengths are generally more reliable than weights as it easier to measure the length of a whale, from whalers records or from photographs against objects of known size. The weight on the other hand is very difficult to measure and is often based on some rough measurements and estimates from those measurements of whales caught by whalers.

Unlike other animals it is not possible to guide a whale onto a weigh bridge or to suspend it from a crane to measure the weight (or even take it to the whale-weigh station, arf!). The only time whales have been available in quantity for such statistics was during the old whaling days and then it was most important to get them processed as quickly as possible before the next one arrived, so weights are educated guesses at best.

Blue whales

The largest animals ever to have lived, dwarfing even the largest dinosaurs. All figures about blues are awesome. Their circulatory system pumps 10 tonnes of blood through its body using a heart the size of a small car. A child could crawl down the whales' main blood vessel, the aorta. In its development, a blue whale calf can drink 50 gallons of its mother's milk and gain 200lbs per day!

The largest individuals have been estimated at being 150-200 tonnes.

Blue whales are light grey/blue to dark grey while at the surface, but seen underwater they are a luminous aqua blue.

Right Whales

The name was given by the early whalers because they were the "right" whales to kill. They have large amounts of oil, blubber and baleen or whalebone, they are slow swimming (easy to catch), are often found close to shore and float when killed.

Right whales have a large bulbous head and lack the streamlined shape of other whales. The head has large callosities that are home to  a whole colony of whale barnacles, parasitic worms and whale lice.


Sei whales

These are among the more elusive of the larger whales, not coming very close to land at any time and not forming large groups or "schools". Sei is pronounced "Say"

They are found like many whales in both Northern and Southern hemispheres following the best feeding at different times of year. Only the larger older individuals tend to go very far south, they are relatively rare in Antarctica