ck.
Distribution extensive but not very common near pack ice and in
tropics.
Distribution more northerly during summer.
Flukes not raised on dive.

[Sidenote: SEI WHALE

_Balaenoptera borealis_

p. 32]

Body up to 62 feet (19 m) long.
Body appears shiny; dark gray on back, often with ovoid
grayish-white scars; white on front of belly; undersides of
flippers and flukes dark.
Baleen grayish or ash black with fine, light-gray bristles.
Dorsal fin to 24 inches (61 cm), strongly falcate, well more than
one-third forward from tail; forms angle of more than 40 deg. with
back.
Distribution extensive; are not very common in cold waters and
may have a greater tendency than fin whales to enter tropical
waters.
Distribution more northerly in summer.
Flukes not raised on dive.

[Sidenote: BRYDE'S WHALE

_Balaenoptera edeni_

p. 37]

Body up to 46 feet (14 m) long.
Body dark gray overall.
Head has series of three ridges from area of blowhole to snout.
Baleen slate gray with coarse dark bristles.
Dorsal fin to 18 inches (45.7 cm), falcate, well more than
one-third forward from tail, often irregularly worn on rear
margin.
Distribution primarily tropical and southern temperate.
Flukes not raised on dive.

[Sidenote: HUMPBACK WHALE

_Megaptera novaeangliae_

p. 40]

Body up to 53 feet (16.2 m) long.
Body dark gray with irregular white area on belly; flippers
white; underside of flukes often has varying amounts of white.
Head in front of blowhole flat and covered with knobs.
Baleen dark gray to black with olive-black bristles.
Dorsal fin small, quite variable in shape, usually hooked,
located on a step or hump, in last one-third of back.
Flippers very long (to nearly one-third of body length), white,
and scalloped on leading edge.
Distribution at least New England to Iceland and Greenland during
summer.
Distribution to shallow tropical banks, winter and spring.
Flukes often scalloped on trailing edges and sometimes raised on
dive.

NOTE: Because of its small adult size, usually less than 30 feet (9.1 m),
another member of the rorqual family, the minke whale, is included with
the medium-sized whales in this guide. Features by which it may be
distinguished from all other rorquals are discussed in the species
account.

Further, inasmuch as the dorsal fin of the humpback whale is highly
variable in shape