Whale
Balaenoptera edeni
Bryde's whale, or the Bryde's whale complex, is thought to take in three species of rorqual and possibly a fourth, the term complex reflecting how unsettled its classification remains for want of definitive research. The common Bryde's whale is a larger form found worldwide in warm temperate and tropical seas, while the Sittang or Eden's whale is a smaller form that may be confined to the Indo-Pacific, alongside a further smaller, coastal form.
Family
Balaenopteridae
Avg Size
1100-1500 cm
Behaviour
Their blow is columnar or bushy and reaches roughly 3.0 to 4.0 m (10 to 13 ft) high, and they sometimes exhale while still underwater. Bryde's whales can seem erratic compared with other baleen whales, surfacing at irregular intervals and changing direction for no clear reason. They usually appear singly or in pairs, occasionally forming loose groups of up to 20 around feeding grounds, and they are livelier at the surface than sei whales, especially in coastal waters. Their diet spans a broad mix of fish, planktonic crustaceans, and cephalopods.
