The Fin Whale is the second largest animal on earth (after the Blue Whale). When swimming just below the surface of the water, its white "lip" is often clearly visible.

Brief Description:

• Typical full-grown length: up to 24 meters (78.7 feet)

• Color: mostly dark gray or brownish gray; belly and undersides of horizontal tail sections ("flukes") and flippers are white; grayish-white inverted V ("chevron") frequently on back behind head.

• Shape of head: long and V-shaped (when viewed from above)

• Dorsal (back): up to 2/3 meters high and slightly more than 1/3 forward from rear; it usually rises at an angle of less than 40 degrees

• Tail movement: not raised on dives

• Other distinguishing characteristics: right lower lip is white; right upper lip sometimes white; left

• Habitat: they have a world-wide distribution, though they tend to be less common in tropical than in temperate, arctic, or antarctic waters. In the eastern North Pacific, they spend the winter from at least central California southward to 20 ° N, and the summer from central Baja California into the Chukchi Sea.