sei whale

sei whale
/say/
a rorqual, Balaenoptera borealis, inhabiting all seas: now greatly reduced in number.
[1915-20; < Norw seihval, equiv. to sei (ON seithr) coalfish + hval WHALE1]

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or Rudolphi's rorqual

Swift species (Balaenoptera borealis) of baleen whale in the rorqual family.

It is 40–50 ft (13–15 m) long and is bluish gray or blackish above and paler below. It has small flippers, about 50 short lengthwise grooves on its chest, and dark baleen with pale, silky, inner fringes. It inhabits oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, migrating between cold and temperate summer waters and winter breeding grounds in warmer regions.

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mammal
also called  Rudolphi's rorqual  or  pollack whale 
 species of baleen whale capable of short bursts of speed that make it the swiftest of the rorquals (rorqual). Usually attaining a length of about 13–15 metres (43–49 feet), this cetacean is bluish gray or blackish above with paler underparts and a relatively large hook-shaped (falcate) dorsal fin. The throat and chest have about 50 short ventral grooves running along their length, and the dark baleen plates have pale, silky inner fringes. Like those of the right whale, the sei's baleen bristles are extremely fine (about the diameter of a human hair) and are used for feeding on small crustaceans such as copepods (copepod) and krill.

      The sei inhabits oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, spending the summer months in cold and temperate waters and then migrating to winter breeding grounds in warmer regions. Calves are slightly less than five metres long at birth.

      Whalers began taking sei whales in the mid-1960s as the stocks of the larger fin whales (fin whale) and blue whales (blue whale) declined. Because of the difficulty in identifying this species at sea, population estimates are extremely vague. Before gaining full protection from commercial whaling in the 1970s and 1980s, the sei whale was aggressively hunted. Since then, evidence indicating that the species is recovering is sketchy, and thus the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) continues to classify the sei whale as an endangered species.

      Sei whales, like fin and blue whales, belong to the rorqual family, Balaenopteridae, of the suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales). Their common name is derived from the Norwegian sei, meaning “pollack (pollock),” and was applied to whales that appeared with these fish along the northern coast of Norway.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sei (whale) — or sei [sā] n. 〚Norw seihval < sei, coalfish + hval, whale: from its arrival at fishing grounds with the coalfish〛 a rorqual (Balaenoptera borealis) with a light gray or bluish back, found in all seas * * * …   Universalium

  • sei (whale) — or sei [sā] n. [Norw seihval < sei, coalfish + hval, whale: from its arrival at fishing grounds with the coalfish] a rorqual (Balaenoptera borealis) with a light gray or bluish back, found in all seas …   English World dictionary

  • sei (whale) — or sei [sā] n. [Norw seihval < sei, coalfish + hval, whale: from its arrival at fishing grounds with the coalfish] a rorqual (Balaenoptera borealis) with a light gray or bluish back, found in all seas …   English World dictionary

  • sei whale — sei′ whale [[t]seɪ[/t]] n. mam a rorqual, Balaenoptera borealis, inhabiting all seas • Etymology: 1915–20; < Norw seihval …   From formal English to slang

  • Sei Whale — Taxobox name = Sei Whale MSW3 Cetacea|id=14300014] image caption = A Sei Whale feeding near the surface. image2 caption = Size comparison against an average human status = EN status system = iucn3.1 status ref =IUCN2008|assessors=Reilly, S.B.,… …   Wikipedia

  • Sei whale — [1] …   Wikipedia

  • sei whale — seivalas statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Balaenoptera borealis angl. fish whale; northern rorqual; Rudolphi’s rorqual; sardin whale; sei whale; seiwhale vok. Rudolphi Finnwal; Seiwal rus. ивасёвый… …   Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

  • sei whale — noun Etymology: part translation of Norwegian seihval, from sei coalfish + hval whale Date: 1912 a widely distributed dark gray baleen whale (Balaenoptera borealis) that has a ridge on the top of the head and may reach a length of nearly 60 feet… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • sei whale — noun a whale of the rorqual family (Balaenoptera borealis) …   Wiktionary

  • sei whale — /ˈseɪ weɪl/ (say say wayl) noun a cetacean, Balaenoptera borealis, of the rorqual family, up to 18 metres long, with a worldwide distribution. {partial translation of Norwegian seihval, literally, coalfish whale} …  

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