"New Kids On The Block: Local Fin Whales Revealed As New Subspecies!"
The fin whale glided languidly, parting the waters with her long, sleek body, its pale chevron pattern emblazoned across her dark back. She rose to breathe, and her eponymous dorsal fin stood outlined sharply against the sky. As her head cleared the surface, the asymmetrical white of her lower right jaw shone bright. She was oblivious to the news that scientists had just declared that she and her cohorts represented a newly recognized subspecies of fin whale that lived only in the North Pacific. (Well, she always knew she was special). Her new scientific name, Balaenoptera physalus velifera, now included the Latin-based descriptor, “velifera,” or sail-bearing —a tribute to her large, distinctive dorsal fin.\
Light jaw patch visible as whale surfaces. NOAA-PaulaOlson
THE DNA DISTINCTION: This winter, scientists from NOAA Fisheries, Ocean Associates Inc., Cascadia Research Collective, Tethys Research Institute, and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, announced the new subspecies.
Chevron visible on back and flanks. NOAA-G-Okge
Comparing DNA from fin whales in the North Pacific, the North Atlantic, and the Southern Hemisphere, these scientific sleuths analyzed small plugs of tissue the size of a pencil eraser and used genetic analysis to confirm that our North Pacific fins are their own subspecies. Even the two Northern Hemisphere populations, Atlantic and Pacific, were found to have been genetically distinct for hundreds of thousands of years despite seeming virtually identical in almost every other way.
FAR-FLUNG FINS: In the Eastern North Pacific, these “sail-bearing" whales range from Baja California Mexico north to Arctic waters. Other stocks are found far across the Pacific Basin, and plying the waters off Russia and Japan. Small numbers have been found in mid-ocean around the remote Northern Hawaiian Islands. Unlike blue and humpback whales, many fins do not migrate over long distances; some remain as localized populations year-round.
FIN FORAGERS: Fin whales feed from summer through fall in the cool, food-rich waters off our North American coast, hoping to bank enough calories to last through the fasts of their winter breeding season. We know that our West Coast marine sanctuaries, the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank; Monterey Bay and Channel Islands, and Olympic Coast national marine sanctuaries, are among their preferred feeding grounds. Here they gorge on shrimp-like krill and masses of schooling fish and squid, engulfing tons of food each day. Their unique black-and-white patterned baleen plates along the upper jaw, combined with their lower right-hand white jaw patch, may startle fish into confusion, making them easier to capture.
SPEEDSTER-OLDSTERS: Fins are the second largest animal on Earth at over 85 feet and 80 tons – and likely the fastest whales. Known to live to a ripe 90 years, some may live past 120, rivaling the bowhead whale in longevity.
Balaenoptera physalus FinWhaleIllust .NOAA
Fin whales are gray to brownish-black, with two pale V-shaped chevrons stretching back toward their flukes, along their backs and sides. Like most large whales, fin whales breed every two to three years, from November to January in the Northern Hemisphere. Gestation lasts 11 to 12 months, and they bear a single calf. Weaning occurs at six or seven months, but the calf remains with mom for another few months before becoming independent.
SURVIVAL IN THE SEA: Whaling continued in these waters into the 1970s. Now illegal, nonetheless, other human-related threats remain: fishing gear entanglement, vessel strike, and lack of prey due to overfishing. Ocean noise may interfere with finding mates, finding food, and other vital communication. Changes in ocean temperatures and chemistry may pose the greatest threat yet, to an extent not yet fully understood. Listed in the U.S. as “Endangered” under the Endangered Species Act, fins are still recovering.
It requires understanding of the life parameters and requirements of a species to rebuild depleted whale stocks. Each bit of new information may move us further toward that goal.
