Fin Whale
Facts
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EN
Status
Endangered
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Population
Between 50,000-90,000
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Scientific Name
Balaenoptera physalus
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Weight
almost 80 tons
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Length
65-80 feet
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Habitats
Oceans
Some scientists have speculated that fin whales circle schools of fish with the white side facing the prey and frightening them into denser schools that are easier for the whale to catch. The fin whale, like other baleen whales, strains its food from the water through baleen plates.
Next to the blue whale, the fin whale is the second largest mammal in the world. They have a distinct ridge along their back behind the dorsal fin, which gives it the nickname "razorback.” Fin whales have a very unusual feature: the lower right jaw is bright white and the lower left jaw is black.
- Places
- Habitats
Whales and the plastics problem
Protecting whales is crucial to protecting healthy oceans for all of us. Yet even these ocean giants are being impacted by the "deadliest predator in the sea": plastic pollution.

Why They Matter
Threats
- Population Between 50,000-90,000
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Extinction Risk Endangered
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EX
Extinct
No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
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EW
Extinct in the Wild
Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
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CR
Critically Endangered
Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
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EN
Endangered
Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
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VU
Vulnerable
Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
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NT
Near Threatened
Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
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LC
Least Concern
Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened
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EX

Hunted by commercial whalers until the last century for oil, meat, and baleen, fin whales in the North Atlantic are listed as endangered. Some populations are faring better as a result. Like other large whales, fin whales are threatened by environmental change including habitat loss, toxics and climate change.
Commercial whaling remains a threat for fin whales. After a two-year hiatus, Iceland resumed commercial fin whaling in 2013 with a quota of 184 whales. The majority of the whale meat ends up in Japanese markets.
What WWF Is Doing

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the body charged with regulating whaling and addressing the vast number of other threats to whales, dolphins and porpoises in our oceans such as shipping, climate change, and bycatch. WWF works to make the IWC more effective in reducing threats to whales.
The U.S. and other IWC member countries have tried for years to persuade Iceland to end its commercial whaling activities—which includes hunting of the endangered fin whale—as it undermines the effectiveness of IWC’s commercial whaling ban. In 2011, after pressure from WWF and others, the U.S. government officially declared Iceland in defiance of the IWC ban. Although no sanctions were implemented, the President urged Iceland to cease its commercial whaling activities. In 2013, Iceland resumed its fin whale hunt.
Experts
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