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 INFORMATION ON WHALE SPECIES
This page is designed to give you a taster of what you will learn when being a part of our charity by either volunteering or adopting a whale. We have picked out the most interesting facts on each type of whale and displayed them here along with a picture.

BLUE WHALE
  • As sunset fades to twilight and night, the color of the whale turns from shades of yellow to orange, pink, lavender, gray and black
  • This coloring may help it avoid detection by the krill upon which it preys
  • Speed was the key feature that protected the blue whale until about a hundred years ago until boats got faster
  • Are solitary animals, sometimes encountered in pairs
  • Humans have driven this whale to brink of extinction
  • 5,000 that inhabited the North Pacific, only 1,200 to 1,700 are left
GRAY WHALE
  • Best known for annual migration north and south along the coast of western North America.
  • It is the only baleen whale to have recovered from commercial whaling due to international whaling protection
  • Gray whales usually feed on the ocean bottom
  • 17 feet long at birth and reaches a maximum size of approximately 45 feet
  • Concern along the west coast is the increasing entanglement of gray whales in fishing gear and nets
HUMPBACK WHALE
  • Other whales make sounds, but only the humpback "sings."
  • Why the humpback sings is a mystery
  • Hump on the whale's back when it flexes sharply before diving.
  • Males are up to 15m long, females 16m
  • Man is now most ferocious enemy
SEI WHALE
  • It reaches a maximum length of 68 feet; most adults are in the 50-60 foot range.
  • Usually travel in groups of two to ten
  • Has a habit of suddenly appearing in an area for days or even months and then disappearing completely for years.
  • One of the fastest whales and reported to have bursts of speed of over 20 knots.
  • They have been sighted in the Pacific, the North Atlantic, the Southern Ocean, and off South Africa , Australia and Brazil
  • From an original population of 200,000, sei whales have been reduced to 75,000
BEAKED WHALE
  • Spindle-shaped body, wide flukes without notches, small flippers, and an elongated snout
  • Scars are often present on their bodies
  • In males, the teethregularly protrude above the gumline, but not in females.
  • Strandings have occurred between northeastern Florida and Nova Scotia in the western North Atlantic; in the eastern North Atlantic off the British Isles.
  • Least known large animal in the world.
  • Small species, reaching a known maximum length of 17.5 feet.
WHITE WHALE
  • Bird-like chirps, whistles, and squeals
  • They are slow swimmers, regularly swimming around 11mph
  • They can turn their head from side to side and look over or under their shoulder - this is rare
  • Live in the Arctic Ocean and prefer coastal waters of North America, northern Europe, and Russia.
  • Usually live in groups of 5 to 10, but as many as 100 belugas have been sighted together
  • Natural enemies are ice (they can be trapped) and Killer whales
SPERM WHALE
  • Can dive over 3000 feet
  • Believed that large males make these extreme dives where they battle and consume giant squid.
  • The sperm whale is a toothed whale -- the only one of the large whales with teeth
  • Males are larger than females and reach lengths of 60 feet or more; females average 40 feet.
  • They can be grayish brown or black
PILOT WHALE
  • They are one of the largest members of the dolphin family.
  • Most common whale to get stranded on beach
  • Have been used by the military to do tasks previously performed by dolphins
  • Known to assemble in groups of hundreds at a time
  • Pilot whale can dive deeper than 2,000 feet on command
NAH-WHAL
  • Undoubtedly the basis for the unicorn legend
  • Narwhals are small whales (15-16 feet)
  • Distributed in the arctic waters of the northwestern Atlantic
  • Their tusk is actually a tooth growing forward and through the upper lip
  • Tusk can grow to a length of 9 feet
  • Primary use of the tusk is aggressive behavior by adult males.
  • Eats Fish, squid, octopus, shrimp and crabs.
  • Killer Whales are natural enemies