Bryde's Whales

Bryde's whale is a baleen whale that, unlike most large whales, remains in warm tropical and subtropical waters year-round rather than migrating to the poles.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetacea
Family	Balaenopteridae
Genus	Balaenoptera
Species	edeni

Description

Bryde's whales are named for Johan Bryde, a Norwegian whaling consul, and are distinguished from other rorquals by three parallel ridges on top of the head, rather than the single ridge most baleen whales have.

Size

Bryde's whales measure 40 to 55 feet in length and weigh 12 to 25 tons, making them somewhat smaller than sei whales, which they closely resemble.

Habitat

Unlike most great whales, Bryde's whales do not undertake long polar migrations, instead remaining year-round in warm tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.

Diet

Bryde's whales feed on small schooling fish such as anchovies and sardines, as well as krill and other invertebrates, often lunging through bait balls near the surface.

Social structure

Bryde's whales are typically solitary or found in pairs, though loose aggregations can form at especially productive feeding grounds.