Description
Bryde's Whales are moderately-sized rorquals, falling behind sei whales but being larger than the relatively small minke whales. The largest measured by Olsen (1913) was a 14.95 m (49 ft) female caught off Durban in November 1912, while the longest of each sex measured by Best (1977) at the Donkergat whaling station in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, were a 15.51 m (50.9 ft) female caught in October 1962 and a 14.56 m (47.8 ft) male caught in April 1963 – both were the offshore form. At physical maturity, the coastal form off South Africa averages 13.1 m (43 ft) for males and 13.7 m (45 ft) for females, while the South Africa offshore form averages 13.7 m (45 ft) and 14.4 m (47.2 ft). The coastal form off Japan is slightly smaller, with adult males averaging 12.9 m (42.3 ft) and adult females 13.3 m (43.6 ft). At sexual maturity, males average 11.9 m (39 ft) and females 12 m (39.3 ft) off Japan. Sexual maturity is reached at 8–11 years for both sexes in the offshore form off South Africa. At birth, they are 3.95-4.15 m (13-13.5 ft). The body mass of Bryde's whales can range from 12 to 25 metric tons (13 to 28 short tons).
Read more about this topic: Bryde's Whale
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“An intentional object is given by a word or a phrase which gives a description under which.”
—Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (b. 1919)
“The great object in life is Sensation—to feel that we exist, even though in pain; it is this “craving void” which drives us to gaming, to battle, to travel, to intemperate but keenly felt pursuits of every description whose principal attraction is the agitation inseparable from their accomplishment.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.”
—Freda Adler (b. 1934)