Fin whales are the second largest animal in the world - only blue whales are larger.

Subspecies
May be two - Northern and Southern.

Life span
Unknown.

Statistics
Fin whales can be up to 26m long (Northern Hemisphere population is smaller), and weigh 30-80 tonnes.

Physical description
Fin whales are brown/grey above and white on their undersides. Their lower lip is white and the rest of head is black or grey. They have a greyish-white chevron mark on their backs, and a single longitudinal ridge on the head. The fin slopes back.

Distribution
Fin whales have a worldwide distribution, but they are not common in tropical seas and polar seas with ice.

Diet
Fin whales feed on a variety of planktonic animals as well as crustaceans, squid and fish.

Behaviour
Fin whales tend to live in groups of 3-7 individuals, but can sometimes be found migrating in groups of 300.

Conservation status
Fin whales are classified as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List. Global threats include hunting, prey depletion, pollution and collisions with vessels.