What is "sei whale"

n. a whale of the rorqual family (''Balaenoptera borealis'')

n. similar to but smaller than the finback whale [syn: Balaenoptera borealis]

The sei whale ( or ), Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in temperate and subtropical waters.

Reaching long and weighing as much as , the sei whale consumes an average of of food every day; its diet consists primarily of copepods, krill, and other zooplankton. It is among the fastest of all cetaceans, and can reach speeds of up to (27 knots) over short distances. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word for pollock, a fish that appears off the coast of Norway at the same time of the year as the sei whale.

Following large-scale commercial whaling during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when over 255,000 whales were taken, the sei whale is now internationally protected, although limited hunting occurs under a controversial research program conducted by Japan. , its worldwide population was about 80,000, nearly a third of its pre-whaling population.