at the surface, fin whales expose the dorsal fin shortly after the
appearance of the blowholes, slightly later than that of the sei whales.
When they are surfacing from a deeper dive, however, they surface at a
steeper angle, blow, submerge the blowholes, and then arch the back and
dorsal fin high into the air before beginning another long dive. In this
species it can be generally stated that the maximum amount of the back
in the area of the dorsal fin which is exposed above the surface as the
animal sounds is approximately 2 times the height of the dorsal fin. Fin
whales do not show their tail flukes when beginning a dive.

Unlike blue or sei whales, fin whales do breach on occasion. When they
do leap clear of the water, fin whales usually reenter with a resounding
splash, like that made by humpback and right whales and not smoothly,
head first, as minke whales often do.

Fin whales are sometimes found singly or in pairs but more often occur
in pods of six or seven individuals and many pods consisting of as many
as 50 animals may be concentrated in a small area.

Fin whales calve and breed in winter, mostly in temperate waters.

Atlantic fin whales eat a wide variety of foods, including krill,
capelin, squid, herring, and lanternfish.

May Be Confused With

Fin whales may be confused with blue whales, sei whales, and, in the
southernmost portion of their range, with Bryde's whales. They may be
distinguished from the blue whales by differences in overall coloration,
coloration and shape of the head, and the size, position, and time of
appearance of the dorsal fin at the surface (see p. 19). After close
examination they may be distinguished from Bryde's whales by the
presence of three ridges along the head (of the Bryde's whale) and by
the smaller, more sharply pointed falcate dorsal fin of the Bryde's
whale (see Fig. 31). They may be distinguished from sei whales in the
following similar ways:

FIN WHALE SEI WHALE

DORSAL FIN

Slightly falcate, forms angle Sharply pointed and falcate:
of less than 40 deg. with back forms angle of greater than
slightly more than one-third 40 deg. with back well more than
forward from tail. one-third forward from tail.

SURFACING BEHAVIOR

Usually rise obliquely so top Primarily skimmer feeders;
of head breaks surface first;