stration: Figure 17.--The back of a harpooned fin whale in the
eastern North Pacific (left) and in the North Atlantic (right). In both
note the light grayish-white chevrons just behind the head. These
chevrons are not usually very distinctive in North Atlantic fin whales.
In the animal in the left photo note also the prominent ridge along the
back behind the dorsal fin--a characteristic which prompted the common
name "razorback." (_Photos courtesy of_ Los Angeles Examiner (_left_)
_and K. C. Balcomb_ (_right_).)]

[Illustration: Figure 18.--Surfacing fin whales show the head and blow,
then the wheellike silhouette of the back, and then the dorsal fin. Note
that in this species the dorsal fin is smaller and located farther back
than that of the sei whale and appears on the surface later after the
animal's blow. (_Photo from the northern North Atlantic by K. C.
Balcomb._)]

[Illustration: Figure 19.--As they begin a long dive, fin whales
frequently arch the tail stock high into the air, exposing the dorsal
fin. Even on a long dive, however, this species is not known to throw
its tail flukes high into the air or even to raise them slightly, as
blue whales sometimes do when beginning a long dive. (_Photo from off
Virginia by J. G. Mead._)]

[Illustration: Figure 20.--Probably a fin whale (perhaps a Bryde's
whale) breaching in the eastern tropical Pacific. This type of behavior
has been described for humpback, minke, and fin whales but is far more
common for the first two species. Breaching fin whales often reenter the
water with a resounding splash, much like humpback whales, but sometimes
smoothly, head first, as minkes sometimes do. (_Photo by K. D. Sexton,
courtesy of National Marine Fisheries Service._)]

[Illustration: Figure 21.--A head-on view of a fin whale stranded at
Ormond Beach, Fla. Note the flat narrow appearance of the head and the
single, central head ridge. (_Photo by F. Essapian, courtesy of
Marineland of Florida._)]

[Illustration: Figure 22.--In this partly flensed fin whale, at
Blanford, Nova Scotia, note the white lower lip and the white baleen in
the right front. The inset photo shows the right upper jaw of a fin
whale with the baleen intact. (_Photos by H. E. Winn, and from the North
Pacific by Japanese Whales Research Institute, courtesy of H. Omura
(inset)._)]

[Illustration: Figure 23.--A fin whale on the ramp of the whaling
station also at Blanford, Nova Scotia. Note the ventral grooves, 5