Finback+Whale+2010



By: Christian N.

The finback whales live mostly in the Pacific coast. They have a small v-shaped head and a pair of blowholes on its’ flat head. The baleen plates are short, purple and white or lead colored. The most obvious characteristic is the sickle-shaped fin on the lower back. These whale measure 70 feet in length and weigh 40-50 tons. The finback whale has a long and slender grayish brown body. They feed on small schooling fish, squid, krill and crustaceans. Mating occurs during the winter months in temperate low-latitudes seas. Their gestation period is eleven months to one year. The newborn will nurse until 6 to 7 months of age. Female whales reproduce between the ages of three and twelve years of age. They can reproduce every two to three years usually giving birth to one calf. Scientists believe they can live for 60 to 70 years. The finback whale is an endangered species due to commercial hunting. Hunters killed 750,000 whales between 1904 and 1979. The whales were killed for their blubber, oil and baleen. The population today is about 120,000 worldwide. Collisions with ships are another major cause of death. In my opinion, to stop this species from endangerment would be to stop the killing of the finback whale and to enforce tougher rules if hunters were to kill them.

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