United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: never/rarely | Ref:
Regulations: no regulations | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Previous occurrence from map (Ref. 1394, p. 51) is confirmed by Ref. 1522. Reported as Balaenoptera musculus musculus in California (Ref. 1522). C: Ref. 1522, M: Ref. 1394.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Rice, D.W., 1998
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Baleine, ... more

Classification / Names / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS

Mammalia > Cetartiodactyla () > Balaenopteridae (rorquals, finback whales)

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 75906); depth range 80 - 500 m (Ref. 1005). Polar; 90°N - 90°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

North Atlantic and North Pacific: Balaenoptera musculus musculus.

North Atlantic [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): VU, D1] and North Pacific [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): LR/cd.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 3,300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 99323); max. published weight: 160.0 t (Ref. 1394)

The largest whales of the world's oceans. They can be seen from the equator to the pack ice edges in both hemispheres, with most poleward intrusions in both hemispheres in summer. Some are resident, others are migratory. Feeds on krill (Ref. 1394). Feeds at depths less than 100 m (Ref. 1005). From the time faster catcher boats and explosive harpoons made them catchable, blue whales were hunted relentlessly from the late 19th through the mid 20th centuries. As the largest whales, they were the most sought after of the rorquals. Although most populations remain well below pre-exploitation levels, some stocks (such as those that feed off California) have shown encouraging signs of recovery since protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1965. At least in the eastern North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific, numbers appear to be on the rise (Ref. 1394).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Endangered (EN) (A1abd); Date assessed: 16 March 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix I: International trade banned

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix I: Endangered migratory species

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance

References
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.2 - 3.3, mean 1.6 (based on 32832 cells).

Resilience (Ref. 69278) Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.08-0.09; tm=11).

Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (84 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758)