Bryde's Whale in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Bryde's whales are baleen whales, one of the "great whales" or rorquals.Seen here with a mouthful of water and krill or plankton.

These whales opportunistically feed on plankton (e.g., krill and copepods), and crustaceans (e.g. pelagic red crabs, shrimp), as well as schooling fish (e.g., anchovy, herring, sardine, mackerel, and pilchard).

Bryde's whales use several recognisable feeding methods, including skimming the surface, lunging, and bubble nets.

They prefer tropical and temperate waters over the polar seas that other whales in their family frequent.

They are largely coastal rather than pelagic. Bryde's whales are very similar in appearance to sei whales and almost as large.

"Bryde" is sometimes misheard as "brutus whale". The name comes from the Norwegian consul to South Africa, Johan Bryde, who helped set up the first whaling station in Durban, South Africa in 1908.

They inhabit tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.

Bryde's whales are considered medium-sized for balaenopterids, dark gray in color with a white underbelly.