Sei Whales

They can be identified by their long backs with a tall dorsal fin two thirds of the way along their back. They are around twice the size of a minke whale so noticeably larger and with a much taller dorsal fin than that of a fin whale. Although they do not raise their tail flukes when they dive, they can often leave distinctive “fluke prints” at the surface as they flick their tail flukes up, creating a large flat circle at the surface of the water – a whale footprint!

They are a member of the rorqual family of whales which includes blue, fin and minke whales, however, unlike other rorquals, Sei whales do not gulp feed, instead skimming the surface open-mouthed feeding on a variety of fish species, squid and plankton.

The Sei whale gets its name from the Norwegian word for pollack as their presence is known to coincide with plentiful pollack in the water.

They were once heavily targeted by whalers seeing Sei whale numbers plummet and they are now classed as an endangered species. Around the world they are divided into three subpopulations – North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. There are thought to be around 12,000 individuals in the North Atlantic population and in excess of 50,000 worldwide with their numbers on the increase.

The Sei whale can reach up to almost 20 metres in length but is a fast swimmer, reaching speeds in excess of 30mph.