Fin Whale

Behaviour

The Fin Whale is one of the fastest cetaceans and can sustain speeds of 37 kilometres per hour (23 mph, 20 knots),^[11] and bursts in excess of 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph, 22 knots) have been recorded, earning the Fin Whale the nickname "the greyhound of the deep".^[14] Fin Whales are more gregarious than other rorquals, and often live in groups of 6–10 individuals, although on the feeding grounds aggregations of up to 100 animals may be observed.^[10]
 

Vocalizations

See also: Whale song and List of whale songs

Like other whales, the male Fin Whale has been observed to make long, loud, low-frequency sounds.^[11] The vocalizations of Blue and Fin Whales are the lowest known sounds made by any animal.^[15] Most sounds are frequency-modulated (FM) down-swept infrasonic pulses from 16 to 40 hertz frequency (the range of sounds that most humans can hear falls between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz). Each sound lasts between one to two seconds, and various combinations of sounds occur in patterned sequences lasting 7 to 15 minutes each. These sequences are then repeated in bouts lasting up to many days.^[16] The vocal sequences have source levels of up to 184–186 decibels relative to 1 micropascal at a reference distance of one metre, and can be detected hundreds of miles from their source.^[17]

When Fin Whale sounds were first recorded by US biologists, researchers did not realize that these unusually loud, long, pure, and regular sounds were being made by whales. They first investigated the possibilities that the sounds were due to equipment malfunction, geophysical phenomena, or even part of a Soviet Union scheme for detecting enemy submarines. Eventually, biologists demonstrated that the sounds were the vocalizations of Fin Whales.^[15]

Direct association of these vocalizations with the reproductive season for the species and that only males make the sounds point to these vocalizations as possible reproductive displays.^[18][19] Over the past 100 years, the dramatic increase in ocean noise from shipping and naval activity may have slowed the recovery of the Fin Whale population, by impeding communications between males and sexually receptive females.^[20]

Habitat and migration

[21] Extensive ship surveys have led researchers to conclude that the summer feeding range of Fin Whales in the western North Atlantic was mainly between 41°20'N and 51°00'N, from shore seaward to the 1,000 fathom (1,800 m) contour.^[22]

Summer distribution of Fin Whales in the North Pacific is the immediate offshore waters from central Baja California to Japan, and as far north as the Chukchi Sea bordering the Arctic Ocean.^[23] They occur in high densities in the northern Gulf of Alaska and southeastern Bering Sea between May and October, with some movement through the Aleutian passes into and out of the Bering Sea.^[24] Several whales tagged between November and January off southern California were killed in the summer off central California, Oregon, British Columbia, and in the Gulf of Alaska.^[23] Fin Whales have been observed feeding in Hawaiian waters in mid-May, and several winter sightings have been made there.^[25] Some researchers have suggested that the whales migrate into Hawaiian waters primarily in the autumn and winter.^[26]

Although Fin Whales are certainly migratory, moving seasonally in and out of high-latitude feeding areas, the overall migration pattern is not well understood. Acoustic readings from passive-listening hydrophone arrays indicate a southward migration of the North Atlantic Fin Whale occurs in the autumn from the Labrador-Newfoundland region, south past Bermuda, and into the West Indies.^[27] One or more populations of Fin Whales are thought to remain year-round in high latitudes, moving offshore, but not southward in late autumn.^[27] In the Pacific, migration patterns are difficult to understand. Although some Fin Whales are apparently present in the Gulf of California year-round, there is a significant increase in their numbers in the winter and spring.^[28] Antarctic Fin Whales migrate seasonally from relatively high-latitude Antarctic feeding grounds in the summer to low-latitude breeding and calving areas in the winter. The location of winter breeding areas is still unknown, since these whales tend to migrate in the open ocean and thus exact locations have been difficult to determine.^[3]

 

Abundance and trends

North Atlantic

[22] J. Sigurjónsson estimated in 1995 that a total pre-exploitation population size of the Fin Whale in the entire North Atlantic ranged between 50,000 and 100,000 animals,^[29] but his research is criticized for not providing supporting data and an explanation of his reasoning.^[3] In 1977, D.E. Sergeant suggested a "primeval" aggregate total of 30,000 to 50,000 Fin Whales throughout the North Atlantic.^[30] Of that number, about 8,000 to 9,000 would have resided in the Newfoundland and Nova Scotia areas, with whales summering in U.S. waters south of Nova Scotia presumably not having been taken fully into account.^[31][3] J.M. Breiwick estimated that the "exploitable" (above the legal size limit of ft50 component of the Nova Scotia population was 1,500 to 1,600 animals in 1964, reduced to only about 325 in 1973.^[32] Two aerial surveys have been conducted in Canadian waters since the early 1970s, giving numbers of 79 to 926 whales on the eastern Newfoundland-Labrador shelf in August 1980,^[33] and a few hundred in the northern and central Gulf of St. Lawrence in August 1995–1996.^[34] Estimates of the number of Fin Whales in the waters off West Greenland in the summer range between 500 and 2,000,^[35] and in 1974, Jonsgard considered the Fin Whales off Western Norway and the Faroe Islands to "have been considerably depleted in postwar years, probably by overexploitation".^[36] The population around Iceland appears to have fared much better, and in 1981, the population appeared to have undergone only a minor decline since the early 1960s.^[37] Surveys during the summers of 1987 and 1989 produced estimates in the order of 10,000 to 11,000 Fin Whales between East Greenland and Norway.^[38] This shows a substantial recovery when compared to a survey in 1976 showing an estimate of 6,900 whales, which was considered to be a "slight" decline since 1948 levels.^[39] Estimates of population levels in the British Isles-Spain-Portugal area in summer have ranged from 7,500^[40] to more than 17,000.^[41] In total, the aggregate population level of the North Atlantic Fin Whale is estimated to be between 40,000^[42] and 56,000^[7] individuals.

 

North Pacific

[43] By 1975, the population estimate had declined to between 8,000 and 16,000.^[44][45] Surveys conducted in 1991, 1993, 1996, and 2001 produced estimates of between 1,600 and 3,200 Fin Whales off California and 280 to 380 Fin Whales off Oregon and Washington.^[46] The miniumum estimate for the California-Oregon-Washington population, as defined in the U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 2005, is about 2,500.^[47] Surveys near the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea indicated a substantial increase in the local abundance of Fin Whales between 1975–1978 and 1987–1989.^[48] In 1984, the entire North Pacific Fin Whale population was estimated to be at less than 38% of its historic carrying capacity.^[49]

 

Antarctica

Relatively little is known about the historical and current population levels of the Antarctic Fin Whale. The IWC officially estimates that the pre-whaling population of the Fin Whale in the southern hemisphere was 400,000 whales, and that the population in 1979 (at the cessation of Antarctic large scale whaling) was 85,200.^[50] Both the current and historical estimates should be considered as poor estimates because the methodology and data used in the study are known to be flawed.^[3] Other estimates cite current population levels of no more than 5,000 whales and possibly as low as 2,000 to 3,000.^[11] As of 2006, there is no scientifically accepted estimate of current population or trends in abundance.^[3]

 

Human interaction

See also: Whaling and History of whaling

[51] It was primarily hunted for its blubber, oil, and baleen. Approximately 704,000 Fin Whales were caught in Antarctic whaling operations alone between 1904 and 1975.^[52] After the introduction of factory ships with stern slipways in 1925, the number of whales taken per year increased substantially. In 1937 alone, over 28,000 Fin Whales were taken. From 1953 to 1961, whaling of the species averaged around 25,000 per year. By 1962, Sei Whale catches began to increase as Fin Whales became scarce. By 1974, fewer than 1,000 Fin Whales were being caught each year. The IWC prohibited the taking of Fin Whales from the southern hemisphere in 1976.^[52] In the North Pacific, a reported total of approximately 46,000 Fin Whales were killed by commercial whalers between 1947 and 1987.^[53] Acknowledgement that the Soviet Union engaged in the illegal killing of protected whale species in the North Pacific means that the reported catch data is incomplete.^[54] The Fin Whale was given full protection from commercial whaling by the IWC in the North Pacific in 1976, and in the North Atlantic in 1987, with the exception of small aboriginal catches and catches for research purposes.^[11] All populations worldwide remain listed as endangered species by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the International Conservation Union Red List, and the Fin Whale is on Appendix 1 of CITES.^{[1][11][55][56]}

The Fin Whale is hunted in the Northern Hemisphere in Greenland, under the International Whaling Commission's procedure for aboriginal subsistence whaling. Meat and other products from whales killed in these hunts are widely marketed within the Greenland economy, but export is illegal. The IWC has set a quota of 19 Fin Whales per year for Greenland despite concern about uncertainty of current population levels. Iceland and Norway are not bound by the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling because both countries filed objections to the moratorium.^[3] In October 2006, Iceland's fisheries ministry authorized the hunting of nine Fin Whales through August 2007.^[57] In the southern hemisphere, Japan has targeted Fin Whales in its Antarctic Special Permit whaling program for the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 seasons at 10 whales killed per year.^[58] The proposal for 2007–2008 and the subsequent 12 seasons includes 50 Fin Whales per year.^[3]

Collisions with ships are an additional major cause of Fin Whale mortality. In some areas, they represent a substantial portion of the strandings of large whales. Most lethal and serious injuries are caused by large, fast-moving ships over or near the continental shelf.^[59]

 

See also

• Whaling in Iceland

 

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Cetacean Specialist Group (1996). Balaenoptera physalus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Balaenoptera physalus Fin Whale. MarineBio.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} National Marine Fisheries Service (2006). Draft recovery plan for the fin whale (<em>Balaenoptera physalus)</em> (pdf), Silver Spring, Maryland: National Marine Fisheries Service. 
4. ^ Revised Management Scheme. International Whaling Commission. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
5. ^ (Latin) Linnaeus, C (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii)., 824. 
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13. ^ ^{a b c} Lin, Brian (2007-06-07). Whale Has Super-sized Big Gulp. University of British Columbia. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
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15. ^ ^{a b} Payne, Roger (1995). Among Whales. New York: Scribner, 176. ISBN 0-684-80210-4. 
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28. ^ Tershy, B.R.; D. Breese and C.S. Strong (1990). "Abundance, seasonal distribution and population composition of balaenopterid whales in the Canal de Ballenas, Gulf of California, Mexico". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn Spec. Iss. 12: 369–375. ISBN 0-906975-23-9. 
29. ^ Sigurjónsson, J. (1995). "On the life history and autecology of North Atlantic rorquals", in A.S. Blix, L. Walløe, and Ø. Ulltang (ed.): Whales, Seals, Fish and Man. Elsevier Science, 425–441. ISBN 0-444-82070-1. 
30. ^ D.E. Sergeant (1977). "Stocks of fin whales Balaenoptera physalus L. in the North Atlantic Ocean". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 27: 460–473. 
31. ^ Allen, K.R. (1970). "A note on baleen whale stocks of the north west Atlantic". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 20: 112–113. 
32. ^ Breiwick, J.M.. "Population dymanics and analyses of the fisheries for fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the northwest Atlantic Ocean". (Ph.D. thesis) University of Washington, Seattle. 310 pp..
33. ^ Hay, K. (1982). "Aerial line-transect estimates of abundance of humpback, fin, and long-finned pilot whales in the Newfoundland-Labrador area". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 31: 373–387. 
34. ^ Kingsley, M.C.S.; R.R. Reeves (1998). "Aerial surveys of cetaceans in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1995 and 1996". Marine Mammal Science 17 (1): 35–75. 
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36. ^ Jonsgard, A. (1974). "On whale exploitation in the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean", in W.E. Schevill (ed.): The Whale Problem: A Status Report. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 97–107. ISBN 0-674-95075-5. 
37. ^ Rørvik, C.J.; J. Sigurjónsson (1981). "A note on the catch per unit effort in the Icelandic fin whale fishery". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 31: 379–383. 
38. ^ Buckland, S.T.; K.L. Cattanach and Th. Gunnlaugsson (1992). "Fin whale abundance in the North Atlantic, estimated from Icelandic and Faroese NASS-87 and NASS-89 data". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 42: 645–651. 
39. ^ Rørvik, C.J.; J. Jónsson, O.A. Mathisen, and Å. Jonsgård (1976). "Fin Whales, Balaenoptera physalus (L.), Off the West Coast of Iceland. Distribution, Segregation by Length and Exploitation". Rit Fiskideildar 5: 1–30. ISSN 0484-9019. 
40. ^ Goujon, M.; J. Forcada and G. Desportes (1995). "Fin whale abundance in the eastern temperate North Atlantic for 1993.". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 45: 287–290. 
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42. ^ Bérubé, M.; Aguilar, A., Dendanto, D., Larsen, F., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Sears, R., Sigurjónsson, J., Urbán-R, J. and Palsbøll, P.J. (1998). "Population genetic structure of North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Cortez Fin Whales, Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus 1758): analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear foci". Molecular Ecology 7: 585–599. ISSN 1471-8278. 
43. ^ Ohsumi, S.; S. Wada (1974). "Status of whale stocks in the North Pacific, 1972". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 24: 114–126. 
44. ^ Rice, D.W. (1974). "Whales and whale research in the eastern North Pacific", in W.E. Schevill (ed.): The Whale Problem: A Status Report. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 170–195. ISBN 0-674-95075-5. 
45. ^ Chapman, D.G. (1976). "Estimates of stocks (original, current, MSY level and MSY)(in thousands) as revised at Scientific Committee meeting 1975". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 26: 44–47. 
46. ^ Barlow, J.. "Preliminary estimates of the Abundance of Cetaceans along the U.S. West Coast: 1991–2001". Administrative report LJ-03-03, available from Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Dr., La Jolla CA 92037.
47. ^ Caretta, J.V., K.A. Forney, M.M. Muto, J. Barlow, J. Baker, B. Hanson, and M.S. Lowry. "U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 2005" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce Technical Memorandum, NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-388.
48. ^ Baretta, L.; G.L. Hunt, Jr. (1994). "Changes in the numbers of cetaceans near the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, between 1975–78 and 1987–89" (PDF). Arctic 47: 321–326. 
49. ^ Mizroch, S.A.; D.W. Rice, and J.M. Breiwick (1984). "The fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus". Mar. Fish. Review 46: 20–24. 
50. ^ IWC (1979). "Report of the sub-committee on protected species. Annex G, Appendix I". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 29: 84–86. 
51. ^ American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet: Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus. American Cetacean Society. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
52. ^ ^{a b} IWC (1995). "Report of the scientific committee". Rep. Int. Whal. Commn 45: 53–221. 
53. ^ Barlow, J., K. A. Forney, P.S. Hill, R.L. Brownell, Jr., J.V. Caretta, D.P. DeMaster, F. Julian, M.S. Lowry, T. Ragen, and R.R. Reeves. "U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 1996" (PDF). NOAA Technical Memo NMFD-SWFSC-248.
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56. ^ Species Profile for Finback whale. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
57. ^ Iceland to Resume Whale Hunting, Defying Global Ban. Bloomberg.com (2006-10-18). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
58. ^ U.S. Protests Japan’s Announced Return to Whaling in Antarctic. Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State (20 November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
59. ^ Laist, D.W.; Knowlton, A.R., Mead, J.G., Collet A.S., and Podesta, M. (2001). "Collisions between ships and whales" (PDF). Marine Mammal Science 17: 35–75. 

 

General references

• National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World, Reeves, Stewart, Clapham and Powell, ISBN 0-375-41141-0
• Whales & Dolphins Guide to the Biology and Behaviour of Cetaceans, Maurizio Wurtz and Nadia Repetto. ISBN 1-84037-043-2
• Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, editors Perrin, Wursig and Thewissen, ISBN 0-12-551340-2

 

External links
 

 

 

 

 

• ARKive - Retrieved from "http://Whalepedia.org/index.php/Fin_Whale"

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