The head is very sleek and wedge-shaped. The dorsal fin(as high as 0.6m) is falcated, and locates two-third of the body length from the tip of rostrum. The ridge between the dorsal fin and the flukes is conspicuous. The dorsal side is from gray to dark brown and the ventral side white, but the head color is asymmetrical. The right lower jaw is white, and the left side darker. Fin whales have 260 to 470 baleen plates per side, the plates (shorter than 0.7m) are dark gray, striated with bands of yellow, but those of the right tip are whitish. The 50 to 100 throat pleats are long, and reach to the umbilicus. In general, fin whales are offshore, but some of them come near the shore. They are single or in pods of several whales. They feed in circum polar zones in summer, and breed in low latitude area in winter. |