We used to only recognize one species of Bryde’s whale; that being the Balaenoptera with two subspecies: Eden’s whale (B. edeni edeni), and Bryde’s whale (B. edeni brydei). It was this January of 2021 that we learned otherwise. Using genetic data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discovered that the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale was actually its own species. It is now named Rice’s whale, Balaenoptera ricei. The Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale was already under the Endangered Species Act., and with an estimation of less than 100 Rice’s whales left, it will remain under the Endangered Species Act.

The Rice’s whale is a medium sized rorqual that reaches a length of about 40ft. Rorquals (Balaenopteridae) are the family with the biggest group of baleen whales. This family has most of the large baleen whales you can think of: the colossus known as the blue whale, which was measured at a maximum length of 98ft; the humpback whale, famous for its distinctive features and breaching; and the fin whale, which is the second largest animal on earth, measuring up to 27.3m (89.6ft). 

Rice’s whales are long and slender, and like most baleen whales, have ventral grooves. Ventral grooves are those lines you see on whale’s chins. Rice’s whales have around 44-54, and they actually go past the umbilicus, which is a fancy way of saying belly button. Rice’s whales are usually seen either in pairs or alone, but sometimes they do form larger groups, which is believed to be for feeding. In the day they can dive as deep as 271m (889ft), but at night they typically don’t go beyond 15m (49ft) of the surface, sometimes diving 150m (490ft).

So there you are! We don’t know as much as we’d like to think, for something even as large as a whale had escaped our attention! We are learning more about our beautiful planet everyday, and I will do my best to keep you up to date on new discoveries!