Sei whales inhabit all oceans and adjoining seas except in tropical and polar regions. They are rarely seen in Hebridean waters and reports include stranded animals.Sei whales feed by skimming the surface of the water to filter smaller prey such as zooplankton, as well as lunging at high speed into a concentration of small fish or squid. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 58(7):1265-1285.

Habitat The sei whale can be found around the outer continental shelf and slope in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, n.d.). Weaning takes place on the feeding grounds in summer or autumn. A sei whale’s diet and feeding behaviour are more similar to those of a right whale than to other rorquals such as blue and fin whales. The two subspecies are geographically isolated from each other and their ranges do not overlap.The current global population of the Sei Whale is estimated at only 54,000.The species remained listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2000, categorised as ‘endangered’. The calving interval among females is two to three years. The calf is about 4½ m long at birth and is suckled for about 5 months. Sei whales have a large, slender body that can measure up to 19.5 metres in length.
Lockyer, Reproduction, growth and migrations of sei whales Balaenoptera borealis off the west coast of South Africa in the 1960's South African Journal of Marine Science, 2002. Habitat: Prefers subtropical to sub-polar waters on the edge of the Continental shelf. Sei Whales are the 4 th largest rorqual (the largest group of baleen whales) after the Blue Whale, the Fin Whale, and the Humpback Whale. Sei whales reach sexual maturity at ten years old and reach full-body size at around 25 years old (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, n.d.).

There have been few sightings of sei whales since the cessation of whaling. Their tail is thick and the fluke is relatively small in relation to the size of the whales body.The Sei whale is a filter feeder, using its baleen plates to obtain its food from the water by opening its mouth, engulfing large amounts of the water containing the food, then straining the water out through the baleen, trapping any food items inside its mouth.Sei Whales usually travel alone or in small groups of up to six individuals. Between these dives, the whale swims near the surface for a few minutes, remaining visible in clear, calm waters, with blows occurring at intervals of about 40 – 60 seconds. Main Threats: Sei whales were hunted almost to extinction by commercial whalers in the 19th and 20th centuries when all known populations were exhausted and an estimated 300,000 sei whales were killed. Like other great whales, they prefer to spend the summer feeding in cooler waters before migrating to warmer waters to breed and give birth to their calves. Usually it congregates far south of the country late in summer and starts migrating south in October. What are Sei Whale breeding cycle like? They are dark grey on the upper side with a light underside and often have circular scars on the skin which are thought to be caused by predators or parasites.The dorsal fin is relatively large and curved, and is positioned about two-thirds along the body.

Populations in the Southern Hemisphere are listed as CITES Appendix I, indicating that they are threatened with extinction if trade is not halted.Best Indoor Rabbit Hutch – 2020 Buyers Guide. The winter habitat reaches all the way south to the tip of Florida and the Blanco Point in West Africa. Best, P.B. The main differences in appearance compared to the fin whale are the dark colour of the areas under the flippers and the fluke, the dorsal fin, which is situated more forward, directly above the genitals, and the neck folds do not reach as far back. The Norwegians observed that Sei whales and Pollock tended to arrive in the same areas at the same time every year. Sei whales inhabit all oceans and adjoining seas except in tropical and polar regions. Adult male sei whales usually grow to be 40 – 50 feet long and weigh as much as 100,000 pounds, while female whales generally grow to be a bit larger than their male counterparts. Sei whales are predominantly an offshore species. Unlike the.Like other whales, the Sei Whale is known to make long, loud, low-frequency sounds. In 1828, Rene Lesson translated this term into Balaenoptera borealis, basing his designation partly on Cuvier's description of Rudolphi's specimen and partly on a 54-ft female that had s… The Sei Whale is among the fastest of all cetaceans and can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour (31 miles per hour) over short distances.The Sei whales body is typically a dark steel grey with irregular light grey to white markings on the ventral surface, or towards the front of the lower body.The Sei whale has a series of 32 – 60 pleats or grooves along the bottom of the body that allow the throat area to expand greatly during feeding.
The whale’s skin is often marked by pits. These whales communicate with growl-like low-frequency calls. A sei whale will eat about 900 kg of prey each day. It has single ridge extending from the tip of the snout to the paired blowholes that are a distinctive characteristic of baleen whales. Sei whales occur in subtropical, temperate, and subpolar waters around the world. They feed mainly on copepods and are thought to skim the surface for their prey.

Very little is known about their social structure.