What whale is it?
Posted by Mehfisto666@reddit | whales | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Hello, trying to id these whales up in north norway. We do have fin whales in this area but somehow these looks a bit different. Could they be minke whales? They seem big for a minke whale though. They only showed the fluke once
Groene_Specht@reddit
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Sei Whale. The dorsal fin looks like a Sei, and the back of the animal looks like a 'razor', but it's too near to the dorsal fin to be a 'Razorback' i.e. a Fin Whale. Sei Whales live in Norwegian waters (Bryde's not, I think, too cold).
I was unable to check if a Sei has white under its tail fluke, I don't have my books here. But the tail and dorsal fin do not look like a Humpback, its one of the rorquals.
Groene_Specht@reddit
I was finally able to check some books on ceteqceans I have at home. Mark Cawardine's guide book shows that only the Fin Whale has black edges along the ventral side of the tail fluke, which also shows on one of the photos on this post, so it must be a Fin Whale after all, and probably not a Sei as I suggested earlier.
Opening-Ad8035@reddit
What whale identification books you have? I'd like to buy them too
Opening-Ad8035@reddit
Isn't the Sei Whale a very less studied whale than minke?
LauraSinCityCwgrl@reddit
Looks just like an orca tail.
Dedadas45@reddit
It’s a humpback whale
Mehfisto666@reddit (OP)
Definitely not a humpback, the shape of the tail is completely different
Dedadas45@reddit
The tail peduncle does look very much like like a humpback
Opening-Ad8035@reddit
But not its shape
Born_Structure1182@reddit
Yeah dorsal fin and flukes don’t look humpbackish to me.
Opening-Ad8035@reddit
I was going to say the same, but it looks more soft than the humpback if you look closer.
BaryOnX43@reddit
Fin whale.
BaryOnX43@reddit
* I'm pretty sure it is the same kide of whale, as on this photo I've made today on a whale watching from Tromsø. Might be even exact same individual & moment since we only saw like 2 flukes today. That's a fin whale, if you ask me. I sad it like 20 times on a mice
BaryOnX43@reddit
BaryOnX43@reddit
* Another perspective, same individual. Here you can clearly see, that's a fin whale
BaryOnX43@reddit
My_2Cents_666@reddit
Fin whale. Lucky you to see the fluke. It’s rare.
benbugman@reddit
Gorgeous shots! I’m pretty confident this is a younger fin whale. Location, dorsal fin appearance, size, and fluke shape and coloration all match up well. Minkes and sei whales have similar fluke coloration but the dorsal fin upwards slope on this whale is more consistent with a fin whale and the size is far too large for a minke. I never really appreciated how tiny adult minkes are until I had my first couple sightings. At full size they are roughly as large as a 10 month old humpback calf. Additionally minkes and sei whales raise their flukes so rarely that the only reference images I could find were from stranded or deceased individuals.
Whal3r@reddit
I think it is a minke. I’ve spent a lot of time with whales though and have never seen a minke fluke! That’s really cool
Mehfisto666@reddit (OP)
One thing i read about was that minke's blows are little visible while these ones' were massive, possibly bigger than humpbacks'
Whal3r@reddit
Oh that sounds like a fin whale for sure. Fin whales have very tall blows (humpback blows are wider and shorter). You’re right that you will very rarely if ever see a minke blow.
This does make more sense as I have seen fin whales very occasionally bring their fluke out of the water. The only thing that’s throwing me off here is that this whale does seem small for a fin but could just be a juvenile. So I changed my mind - I think it’s a fin!
Mehfisto666@reddit (OP)
Thanks for your inputs! Yeah it's been really throwing me off cause they seemed really big for a minke whale but not that huge for fin whales. But having never seen minke whales idk what to think. But yeah the blows where impressive!
ObligationOk9100@reddit
It’s def a fin whale. I’m surprised they showed their fluke at all!
nerdkeeper@reddit
The shape of the dorsal fin matches better with a minke whale than a fin whale.
Mehfisto666@reddit (OP)
This is also what i was thinking
MplsStephanie@reddit
A common minke whale would be my guess.