Four families of bearded whales with a total of 11 species have been scientifically identified and classified, 5 of which live in the coastal waters of La Gomera. Except for the Sperm Whale they are all very large whales. It is an interesting fact that the largest animals in the world feed predominantly on one of the smallest of living organisms called krill which are microscopic marine crabs. The whales use the baleen plates (or so-called beards) in their upper jaw to filter these tiny crabs from the water. The baleen plates are long, cartilaginous membranes which resemble a comb and hang down from the soft palate within the whale´s upper jaw.
1. The Fin or Finback Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
One of the whales which regularly passes through the coastal waters of La Gomera when migrating is the Fin Whale, also known as the Finback Whale. In fact, this is one of the largest whales, reaching up to 24 metres in length so it is only a little smaller than the Blue Whale which is the largest animal that has ever lived. When floating and exhaling, (or blowing), the Fin Whale can send water spiralling up to 6 metres high into the air, doing so 4-6 times on the surface before diving again up to 200 metres deep. If a Fin Whale blows close to the boat it quickly becomes clear as to why it doesn´t have a lot of company: its bad breath acts as a very effective repellent. The out-breath or blow smells so strongly of rotten fish and digestive acid that it can literally turn the stomach of more sensitive beings. The Fin Whale can be identified from a considerable distance by the height of its blow and by the way the water spirals.
But whoever thinks he can hunt this whale is very much mistaken. The baleen whales are one of the fastest swimmers of all marine mammals with the exception of the Sei Whale, reaching a speed of up to 32 kms per hour and are able to cover a distance of 300 kilometers a day. This is probably the reason why the Fin Whale was left relatively unscathed during the years of indiscriminate and commercialised whaling when the Blue Whale was hunted so ruthlessly it almost became extinct. The Fin Whale was simply too fast for the whalers. It wasn't until the Forties during the last century when the Blue Whale had become scarce, that the whaling industry developed boats which were faster than the Fin Whales. And within a few years they had also become a threatened species. Rorquals generally travel alone or in pairs, spending the summer in the north in cooler waters and travelling south in the summer. (This is when we are likely to see them in the coastal waters of La Gomera). Their calves are born in the winter. Every 2 or 3 years, once one calf has reached sexual maturity, a new calf is born (period of gestation 12 months). Length at birth: 6 metres. Just like all bearded whales, the Rorquals feed mainly on plankton (algae) and krill (microscopic marine crabs) which float in the sea. However they also eat squid, herrings, flashlight fish and other small fish which happen to swim conveniently close to their gigantic mouths. Here off the coast of Gomera it appears that they have a predilection for the local Common Snipefish.
2. The Sei Whale (Balaenoptera boreales)
According to the last official census in 1987, there are approximately 200,000 Sei Whales alive in the oceans of the world. The majority of them are to be found in the Pacific Ocean around Australia. They were hunted so much in the North Atlantic that today they are a species protected by the International Whaling Commission.
The males can grow up to 17.1 meters in length, the females up to 18.6. They reach sexual maturity between 6 and 12 years of age measuring 12-13 meters at that time. Newly-born calves can be between 4.5 and 4.8 meters long. One distinguishing feature is a protuberance which extends from the blowhole to the end of the snout. The Sei Whale also has baleens or a beard roughly 80 cms long which really does look like a beard.
Generally speaking the Sei Whale travels in groups of between 2 and 5 animals and is considered to be the fastest of all the baleen whales. They can easily reach a speed of 50 kms per hour. We see them near La Gomera during the winter months, while in summer they travel northwards to Norway and Iceland. These whales have often been seen and photographed during whalewatching excursions organized by the Club de Mar. However, because the Sei Whale looks very much like the Fin Whale, experts are still arguing about how best to identify it. They maintain that the right side of the lower jaw of the Sei Whale is light grey and therefore it should be easy to distinguish from the Fin Whale. However, because the lower jaw is usually below water, this is really of little use when we are trying to identify them. On the other hand, anyone who truly loves whales doesn't really mind which type of whale is blowing at the side of the boat. Just observing them in their natural environment, way out there in the ocean, is an unforgettable experience.
3. The Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
The Bryde's Whale looks so much like the Sei Whale that whalers never considered or identified it as a different species. In the North Pacific, where whaling still continues, the last census in 1987 revealed that there were 14,000 of them while in this same area in ist heyday there were over 210,000. There are no figures available for other oceans.
Living in tropical and sub-tropical waters, it appears to enjoy life so much that contrary to the rest of the bearded whales, the Bryde's Whale doesn't migrate to cooler waters in summertime. This fact helps us as a reference point and therefore, if we were to see a large bearded whale off the coast of La Gomera in summer, although we would not be absolutely sure, it is highly probable that it would be the Bryde's Whale (and not the Fin Whale or the Sei Whale).
While the Fin Whale has a single stripe on ist head, the Bryde's Whale has 3 and these whales are also smaller than the Fin Whales. The males measure about 12 metres, the females 13 or 14 metres. Despite having seen groups of Bryde's Whales one or 2 marine miles apart, we can confirm that this whale is predominantly a solitary traveller which pairs up with others to migrate. Every 2 years, the females give birth to a calf, usually in the autumn, which she breastfeeds for a year. Both the Bryde's Whale and the Minke Whale are considered to be extremely curious. We have seen the following when drifting in the boat without an engine: a Bryde's Whale surfaces at the side of the boat and appears to study it and us, almost as if it is peoplewatching, studying this strange species which is taking a peaceful ride on the ocean current.
4. The Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
This is the smallest of the bearded whales. It is "only" 10 metres long and generally weighs about a ton. A newborn Minke Whale is 2.4 to 2.8 metres long. They reach sexual maturity at 7 to 8 years of age. The males are between 6.7 to 7 metres long and the females 7.3 to 7.9 metres. We have seen single Minke whales, pairs and groups of 3 off the coast of La Gomera. Large schools comprising hundreds of these whales can be found in summer in polar waters, before they embark on a 9,000 kilometer journey in smaller groups. The Minke Whale is seen much more often than other species and is probably due to the fact that they are extremely curious. They will often approach a boat which is drifting, come up to the surface, have a good look at it and then disappear again.
They don't surface, showing their backs like other whales do and if they do, then in silence and without drawing attention to themselves. However, from time to time, they leap high out of the water and either fall on their backs, splashing water everywhere or dive elegantly back into it.
Minke Whales live on krill, young squid and small fish. They eat whatever there is nearby and don't bother to go in search of anything special - they adapt. Often the prey of Orcas, especially in the oceans of the southern hemisphere, it is man who is still their greatest enemy. Japan and Korea continue to hunt them in the waters around their coastlines and in Norway alone 52,000 were killed up to 1973 and the butchering still continues.
5. The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
When the Club de Mar discovered a Blue Whale in the coastal waters of La Gomera in 1999, it soon turned into a small scientific sensation. Up till then none had been seen in Canarian waters. And if it hadn't been documented and photographed, no one might have believed us. The Blue Whale is not only the largest whale - it is also the largest animal that has ever existed on the planet. They can grow up to 33 metres in length and sometimes weigh up to 200 tons. When the moratorium on whaling began, they were practically extinct and no one thought they would be able to reproduce in significant numbers. The group we saw off the coast of Gomera included a calf, so there is hope. A Blue Whale has to breathe on the surface for 2 to 6 minutes and afterwards dives to a depth of about 150 metres for between 5 and 20 minutes.