SEI WHALE

THE SEI WHALE

BALAENOPTERA BOREALIS

Lenght: 15–20 meters
Weight: 20–30 tons
Worldwide population: 50.000–70.000 individuals
Life expectancy: About 80 years

Sei Whale

The Sei Whale

The sei whale is 12½-15 m long in Icelandic waters. The male weighs 25-30 tons and the female 20-30 tons. The main differences in appearance compared to the fin whale are the dark colour of the areas under the flippers and the fluke, the dorsal fin, which is situated more forward, directly above the genitals, and the neck folds do not reach as far back. The baleens are very finely fringed.

The sei whale is an open sea creature of all the world’s oceans and does not migrate all the way to the cold seas of the north. It stays off the coast of Newfoundland and northern Norway and in the Greenland strait during summer. The winter habitat reaches all the way south to the tip of Florida and the Blanco Point in West Africa.

Mating takes place during the period November to February, the gestation period is about one year and pregnancy occurs every second year. The calf is about 4½ m long at birth and is suckled for about 5 months. It grows to full size in 12 years and its life expectancy is about 80 years.

The main food is krill and also small fishes and squid. The sei whale is social in behaviour and travels in shoals of 10-20 animals, and sometimes hundreds of them are spotted in a limited area. It dives for 5-10 minutes at the time and blows up to three times in between. Sei whales are very rarely spotted near the coast. Usually it congregates far south of the country late in summer and starts migrating south in October. Its migrations are highly irregular, and some summers, very few animals are spotted. The estimated stock in Icelandic waters is 10.500 animals and the world stock 50.000-70.000.

WHALES & DOLPHINS (CETACEANS) A - Z
BELUGA WHALE	BLUE WHALE	BOTTLENOSE WHALE	DOLPHINS
FIN WHALE	HUMPBACK WHALE	KILLER WHALE	MINKE WHALE
NARWHALE	PILOT WHALE	PORPOISE	SEI WHALE
SPERM WHALE	WHALES	WHALING	THE LOST WHALE

LINKS

Which way now?

Environmentalists hope to save the whales - again

Vote prompts compromise talk

Anti-whaling activists detained

Anti-whalers rally after key vote

How did the anti-whalers lose?

Japan gains key whaling victory

Leaders 'ignore public' on whales

Whaling nations set for majority

The lure of the whale trade

The debate inside Japan

Hunting minke in Norway

When is a whale dead?

'No surge' in minke numbers

Your whaling questions answered

Should the whaling ban be lifted?

Japan backs Iceland's whaling decision Seattle Post Intelligencer - 18 Oct 2006
TOKYO -- Major pro-whaling nation Japan on Wednesday welcomed Iceland's decision to resume commercial whaling, saying Iceland's catch won't "endanger the whale ...

Iceland whaling decision condemned Stuff.co.nz

Greenpeace 'disappointed' by Iceland's whaling plans ABC Online

Moves begin on Iceland's whaling BBC News

Monsters and Critics.com - Radio New Zealand

Greens dismayed at Iceland whaling decision Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand -

17 Oct 2006 News that Iceland is to begin commercial whaling after a 20-year

hiatus is being greeted with dismay by Green Party Conservation Spokesperson Metiria Turei. ...

Iceland to Resume Commercial Whaling Los Angeles Times, CA - 17 Oct 2006
REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Iceland said Tuesday it would resume commercial whaling after a nearly two-decade moratorium, defying a worldwide ban on hunting the ...

Green warrior to come to Iceland IcelandReview, Iceland - 20-10-06
... According to RÚV, the US government is also opposed to Iceland resuming commercial whaling and has the power to block all imports from Iceland to USA. ...

Today's Scoop Just Politics News Summary 17 Oct 2006
Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand - commercial whaling administered by the International Whaling Commission. See... Greens dismayed at Iceland whaling decision

Update: Finnair strike expected to continue next week International Herald Tribune, France - hours ago
... "We have received several e-mails from people saying they have decided not to visit Iceland as long as Iceland is conducting whaling," said Thorunn ...

Tharp She Gets Shot! The Return of Whaling in Iceland 19 Oct 2006

Plenty Magazine, NY - which Iceland’s whales have been protected from hunters came to an end on Tuesday, when the country’s lawmakers voted to resume commercial whaling in the ...

Whaling is affecting tourism IcelandReview, Iceland - 19 Oct 2006
... of Swiss travel agency Baldinger Reisen AG sent a written statement to icelandreview.com yesterday, expressing his concerns about Iceland resuming whaling. ...

Iceland, Whales, Politics FiNS Magazine, Singapore - 18 Oct 2006
... For a good overview on the Iceland decision and the issues associated with commercial whaling in general, see this recent article in the Guardian. ...

Iceland to resume commercial whaling after almost 2 decades USA Today 17-10-06
Critics say the "scientific" whaling practiced by Japan and Iceland is a sham. Norway ignores the moratorium altogether and openly conducts commercial whaling.

Iceland's Whaling Comeback - Preparations for the Resumption of ...

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) is the leading international charity dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all ... www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/ allweb/B2460680BC28D8F480256D4A0040D97B

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Moves begin on Iceland's whaling

Iceland's ambassador to Britain is summoned to explain his country's return to commercial whaling. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6064028.stm

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Iceland bids to resume whaling

Iceland reveals its plans to catch whales again for the first time since 1989, despite the international whaling moratorium. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910655.stm

Iceland Whaling v/s Whale watching. Whaling v/s Whale watching.

The most commonly used argument in Iceland is that whaling must be resumed before the whales start ... Yearly report on Iceland whale watching industry: ... www.global500.org/news_83.html

Iceland

My opinion: Iceland's reasons for scientific whaling are FUBAR and if we can ... I wonder how many of you criticising Iceland's whaling have actually read ... weblog.greenpeace.org/iceland/archives/001530.html

Stop Icelandic whaling

Stop Icelandic Whaling: Arctic Sunrise Expedition 2005, Stop Icelandic Whaling: Arctic ... tourism in Iceland IF Iceland discontinues whaling. One Icelandic ...

weblog.greenpeace.org/iceland/archives/2003_09.html

Greenpeace 'disappointed' by Iceland's whaling plans. 19/10/2006

Greenpeace says it is very disappointed Iceland has decided to resume commercial whaling Iceland has authorised an annual hunt of 30 minke and nine of the ...
www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1768443.htm

Earth Island Institute

Iceland's whaling proposal threatens its growing whale-watching industry. In 2002, more than 62000 people went whale-watching in Iceland. ...
www.earthisland.org/takeaction/new_action.cfm?aaID=167

Japan backs Iceland's whaling decision - Yahoo! News

Major pro-whaling nation Japan on Wednesday welcomed Iceland's decision to resume commercial whaling, saying Iceland's catch won't "endanger the whale ...
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ ap_on_re_eu/japan_iceland_whaling

Whales on the Net - Iceland Whaling Protest Letter

I am appalled to learn that Iceland has decided to resume commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research, and plans to kill 38 minke whales this ... www.whales.org.au/alert/iceletter.html

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