In the whale domain , a few specie get all the glory ; the blue giant isthe creation ’s with child , and then there arehumpbacks , leaping out of the ocean to the delight of film crews and tourist . Beluga whalesmight be famed for their unusual appearance andkiller whalesfor drop down yacht ( and not really being heavyweight at all ) , but what about some of the lesser - known species ? Have you ever hear of the sei whale ?
Appearance, population, and ecology
Sei whales ( Balaenoptera borealis)weighabout 20 tons ( 18,144 kilo ) and measure 13.7 to 20 time ( 45 to 66 feet ) in total length , making them the third big giant species after blue and fin whale . The name “ sei ” come from the Norwegian word for Jackson Pollock , " seje " , as the two mintage are often found together .
The bionomics of these whales is poorly understood and as a result , the species has been referred to as the “ forget whale ” due to this deficiency of information . However , it is conceive to be found in most of the planet ’s oceans , taproom arctic and tropical regions . There are thought to be three “ stocks ” of sei giant , with disjoined populations in the North Atlantic , North Pacific , and Southern Oceans .
They also have a broad dietary kitchen range , eating plankton , krill , small Pisces , and calamari . The whale bung on these animate being by skimming them from the urine and filtering through their baleen plates .
Social behavior and migration
Typically , sei whale are found alone or in small groups of around five individuals , though larger aggregation of whales can be regain in areas of high prey density .
Sei giant also have highly extensive seasonal migration , drop summertime at high latitudes and while it is middling understudied , it is thought that the whales return to broken latitudes as the calves are born in the wintertime . Gestation is between 10 and 13 months , according to theMammal Society .
of late , 93 sei hulk sightings were made off thecoast of New England , cogitate to be the highest identification number of observations ever made in a single survey flight .
History
Sei hulk are thought to have no natural vulture , but were historically hunted for their substance and fossil oil . As many as 300,000 are estimated to have been killed for this reason , withover 110,000of these deaths thought to have happen between 1960 and 1970 . The hunt turned to sei giant after the blue and fin heavyweight population commence to decline .
At the moment theIUCNlists sei whales as endanger and estimates a global universe of 50,000 . While hunting sei whales and other giant species is banned , Japancontinues to hunt them in the North Pacific . Other modern - day threats include web with fishing nets and psychological disorder from sauceboat dealings .
