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Sei Whale

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Sei whale images (Balaenoptera borealis) - stock photos, illustrations & facts on this large baleen whale endangered due to commercial whaling

We have the rare underwater images of this endangered sei whale, created by the world’s renowned professional wildlife photographers. We also have pictures showing the animal’s various behaviors and anatomical features, including, blowing, spouting, diving, dorsal fins, etc.

Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Mammalia > Order: Artiodactyla > Infraorder: Cetacea > Family: Balaenopteridae > Genus: Balaenoptera > Species: B. borealis - Binomial name: Balaenoptera borealis - Conservation Status: Endangered Species

The Sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis, is a large baleen whale, with a slim, streamlined shape, and a dark grey-blue body with white on the underside. An adult sei whale is typically around 55 feet long, but has been observed at up to 65 feet long. The females tend to be somewhat larger than the males. Calves at birth measure around 15 feet long.

Baleen whales are filter feeders and have a series of fringed plates made of keratin hanging from their upper jaw, more than 300 on each side. These plates are covered in fine hair, and the sei whale feeds by skimming the surface with its mouth open and traps plankton in the baleen by straining the water through it

Sei whales are mostly solitary or seen in groups on two to three, except where extremely good feeding grounds are, when up to a hundred can be seen feeding. They are found in most oceans from the Antarctic to as far north as Iceland in the north Atlantic, and are migratory in a seasonal pattern, preferring deep off-shore waters. They are one of the fastest swimming whales, swimming up to 30 miles an hour, and do not dive, instead smoothly sinking below the surface of the water.

Sei whales are considered endangered, with a population of less than 55,000 worldwide, mostly due to large scale commercial whale hunting, which killed more than 238,000 animals. It is now internationally protected, but hunting is still carried out by the Japanese under controversial “research” programs.
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