Humpback whale (Balaenoptera physalus)

Found: Antarctica, America, South Africa, New Zealand, western Australia
Length: Max 18m
Weight: Max 48tonnes
Food: Crustaceans in plankton, including krill
Breeding: Normally breed every two years, a single calf is born after a 12 month gestation period
Notes: Humbacks have the longest and most varied song of all the whale species. They also have very long flippers, in some cases reaching 1/3 the length of their body.
An ingenious method of "mass" feeding involves a group of humpbacks swimming in an upward spiral whilst creating a "bubble curtain" which en traps the krill making for easy feeding.

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Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)

Found: Antarctica, Patagonia
Length: Max 19m
Weight: Max 100tonnes
Food: Krill
Notes: Named the "right whale" because it was the "right" one to hunt! Correspondingly the population of right whales is low but on the increase.
They have no dorsal fin.

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Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)

Found: Antarctica, equatorial waters to avoid austral winter
Length: Max 11m
Weight: Max 10tonnes
Food: Plankton, squid
Breeding: Sexually mature at about 7 or 8 years old, a single calf is born after a 10-11 month gestation period
Notes: World population could be as much as 500,000 and as such they are hunted by pelagic factory whales and sold into the Japanese market.
Minkes are very fast traveling at up to 16 knots in the surface.

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Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalis)

Found: Worldwide
Length: Max 30m
Weight: Max 95tonnes
Food: Plankton, fish, squid
Notes: Faster still than Minke whales, Fin whales can reach speeds of 18 knots, a quality which protected them from whalers until the advent of faster boats.

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Killer whale (Orcinus orca)

Found: Antarctica & coastal regions throughout all the oceans
Length: Max 9.5m
Weight: Max 8tonnes
Food: Penguins, seals, fish, whales (occasionally)
Notes: Very curious and will often approach ships in their vicinity. Travel in small family groups called pods.

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Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)

Found: Global distribution, only the males will venture into Antarctic waters in the austral summer
Length: Max 18m
Weight: Max 70tonnes
Food: Fish, squid
Notes: Have been recorded as diving to an amazing 3200m.
Sperm whales are still taken by Iceland and Japan for oil, spermaceti (a clear liquid wax) and meal.

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Southern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon planiforns)

Found: Antarctica
Length: Max 9m
Weight: Max 4.5tonnes
Food: Pelagic fish, squid
Notes: Travel in small groups or in solitary.
Deep divers.
Very curious and may approach boats.

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Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)

Found: Antarctica and worldwide (breeding takes place in warm tropical waters, feeding in the colder southern ocean)
Length: Max 30m
Weight: Max 180tonnes
Food: Krill
Breeding: Reach sexual maturity at about 10 years old. A single calf is born after a 12 month gestation period. Females probably breed every 3 years
Notes: Largest of all whale species.
Travel in small groups or in solitary.
Very easily spooked.

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Arnoux's beaked whale (Berardius arnuxiis)

Found: Antarctica, New Zealand
Length: Max 9m
Weight: Max 8tonnes
Food:
Breeding:
Notes: The chances of seeing an Arnoux's beaked whale are very slim and little is known of it's life at sea.

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Hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger)

Found: South of the Antarctic Convergence
Length: Max 1.8m
Weight: Max 110kg
Food:
Notes: Travel in groups from 6 to several dozen.
Enthusiastic bow riders.

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