Sei Whale

Facts about Sei Whales, "Scientific name for Sei Whale is Balaenoptera borealis". Sei Whales have some other common names, they are Coalfish whales, Pollack whales and Rudphi’s rorqual.

The Sei Whale are baleen whales which inhabits oceans, seas preferring deep offshore waters. The Sei Whale never inhabit polar, semi-enclosed bodies of water and tropical waters.

Sei Whales are the third largest balaenoptrid after the blue and fin whales. Their length depends on their locality but generally the female Sei Whale are larger than the males. In all location the average measurements are adult Sei Whale male range between 45 ft to 53 ft (13.7 to 16.2 meters) long with the females 49 ft to 56 ft (15 to17 meters). The average weight of the Sei Whale is around 43 tons (31.75 tonnes) they can grow over 50 tons (45 tonnes).

Sei Whales have V- shaped water spout that reaches around 8 feet (2.4 meters) into the air. The Sei Whale bodies are dark gray with white undersides. The white colors are limited on the throat grooves just before you reach the navel.

The ones found in Antarctic and pacific have white colored patches all over their upper bodies. But for the ones found on Atlantic don’t have the patches and their bodies are uniformly dark.

Both Sei Whale sexes attain sexual maturity at the age of 8 – 10 years. But this entirely depends on their locality. Mating commences in winter especially in temperate subtropical seas. Females Sei Whale reproduce every three years and a single calf is born.

Gestation period is based on estimates of whales that have been caught by commercial whalers. However, it is believed to last between 10 months and 11 months. A Sei Whale can swim over 31 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour) (31 miles per hour)

Weaning of the newborn Sei Whale is believed to start from the sixth to ninth months during summer or autumn feeding grounds. At this stage the newborn is estimated to be around 26 to 29 1/2 (8 – 9 meters). The oceans they occupy they prefer water temperatures of (46 to 77°F) (8 to 25°C).

Sei Whales are filter feeders meaning they pass their food over their mouth where the food is filtered using their baleen plates. Typically the process is that the Sei Whale opens up their mouths and swallow water that contains food, then after that the food is filtered and the water squeezed out leaving the food items in their mouth.

The Sei Whales are known to feed on the surface of the ocean. The average food consume is 2000 pounds (900 kilograms) in a day. The Sei Whale are known to feed on zooplankton and small fish according to some research which was based on the stomach analyze of the whales and observation done while they are feeding.

Migration of the Sei Whales is observed to occur annually. Their major purpose of migrating is to search for food and that’s why the Sei Whale move from cool seas to temperate water where there is plenty food. But surprisingly the route that they use has never been recorded and still it is hard to make a guess on their next destination.

The Sei Whales make loud low frequency vocals unlike other whales. The clear intention of these vocals is not clearly known though there were some observations made that pointed out maybe it is a form of communication.

Sei Whales are internationally protected following whaling that was witnessed in the late nineteenth and twentieth. Their population is around Sei Whale 80,000 and their lifespan is 50-70 years .
"Scientific name for whale is Cetacea"- An order of marine mammals, including the whales. "Fear of Whales Cetaphobia".