Balaenopteridae

The family Balaenopteridae, commonly known as rorquals, includes several species of baleen whales such as the blue whale, fin whale, sei whale, Bryde's whale, and minke whale. The humpback whale is also part of this family. Rorquals are characterized by ventral grooves that extend from their chin to their belly, allowing their mouths to expand significantly for gulp-feeding.1

Unlike toothed whales, baleen whales possess baleen plates in their upper jaws, which they use to filter small planktonic animals, crustaceans like krill, and small fish from large volumes of water. Baleen is a keratinized material, similar to hair or fingernails. The genus name Balaenoptera is derived from Latin and Greek words meaning "whale fin".23415