How Many Species of Whales Are There in the World? A Complete List of Whale Species

In everyday life, if we want to see whales, we can only go to an aquarium, but the variety there is not very great; generally we can only see beluga whales, blue whales, gray whales, and so on. So how many species of whales are there in the world? A complete list of whale species is compiled for you as follows:

1. Toothed whales

The main morphological feature of toothed whales is that they have baleen in the mouth and no teeth, and they have two blowholes. The main species include the following.

1. Killer whale

Killer whales generally live mainly in polar and temperate seas. They are mainly distributed in seas around the world such as the North Sea of Japan and Iceland, and there seem to be no obvious restrictions on factors such as water temperature and depth. They like to eat seals, walruses, sharks, salmon, and so on.

2. Beluga whale

They are mainly distributed along the coasts of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Norway, and Russia around the Arctic and sub-Arctic. They like to eat smelt, flounder, sculpin, salmon, and cod, and also eat invertebrates such as crabs, shrimp, clams, worms, octopus, squid, and other benthic marine organisms.

3. Narwhal

They are mainly distributed in (the waters of) Canada, Greenland, Russia, Svalbard, and Jan Mayen. Their roaming grounds (waters) include Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They mainly like to eat fish.

4. Blue whale

Blue whales are distributed in the major oceans of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres from the Antarctic to the Arctic, and are relatively rarely seen in tropical waters. The countries where they are distributed include Angola, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, the Cocos Islands, Colombia, the Comoros, the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, and so on. They like to eat squid and krill.

5. Gray whale

They are mainly distributed in Canada, Mexico, Russia, the United States, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and other places. They mainly like to eat crustaceans, herring eggs, schooling fish, sea urchins, starfish, conches, hermit crabs, shrimp, sea cucumbers, seaweed, and so on.

6. Humpback whale

The main countries and regions of distribution are American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Antarctica, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, and so on. In China they are distributed in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea; they are relatively few in the northern Yellow Sea and relatively numerous in the sea area of southern Taiwan. They mainly like to eat krill, scaled fish, capelin, sand lance, and other small fish.

7. Bottlenose dolphin

They are distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, South Pacific, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, and other temperate and tropical seas. In China they are mainly distributed in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Hong Kong, China, and the Taiwan Strait, and other sea areas. They mainly like to eat hairtail, Spanish mackerel, mullet, sardines, and so on.

8. Fin whale

They are mainly distributed in Antarctic waters. They mainly like to eat krill, mysids, copepods, and other small crustaceans, herring, saury, hairtail, and so on.

2. Toothed whales

Toothed whales, as soon as you hear the name, are whales that have teeth; they spout water. The specific species are as follows:

1. Sperm whale

Sperm whales are widely distributed in the non-freezing seas of the world; their traces can be found in the non-freezing seas from the equator all the way to the poles. They mainly like to eat squid, octopus, fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans and fish.

2. False killer whale

They are distributed in the temperate and tropical seas of the world's major oceans except the Arctic Ocean. In China they are mainly distributed in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and the sea area of Taiwan. They mainly like to eat mackerel, horse mackerel, skipjack tuna, sea bass, grouper, juvenile sharks, and so on.

3. Pilot whale

They are mainly distributed in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and other tropical and temperate seas. In China they are only seen in the East China Sea and the sea area near Taiwan Province. They mainly like to eat squid, fish, and so on.

4. Beaked whale

Beaked whales have a relatively wide distribution range; in China they are seen in Changhua, Lukang, Hengchun, Su'ao, and other places in Taiwan. They mainly like to eat squid and benthic fish.

5. Pygmy killer whale

The pygmy killer whale, also known as the lesser killer whale, has a relatively wide distribution; its traces can be found in almost any tropical or subtropical deep-water sea area. It mainly likes to eat fish.

6. Blainville's beaked whale

It is distributed in the world's major oceans and is perhaps the most widely distributed species in the genus Mesoplodon. It mainly likes to eat small fish and small shrimp.

3. Delphinidae

Porpoise, vaquita, finless porpoise, Amazon river dolphin, Ganges river dolphin, genus Lagenorhynchus, long-beaked dolphin, spotted dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, genus Inia, right whale dolphin, genus Cephalorhynchus, genus Cephalorhynchus, piebald dolphin, black dolphin, genus Cephalorhynchus, white-headed dolphin, genus Delphinus, long-beaked common dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, Indian Ocean long-beaked common dolphin, genus Orcaella, Irrawaddy dolphin, genus Globicephala, short-finned pilot whale, long-finned pilot whale, genus Grampus, Risso's dolphin, genus Tursiops, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, genus Lagenodelphis, Fraser's dolphin, white-beaked dolphin, black-chinned dolphin (southern right whale dolphin), cross-marked dolphin, oblique-marked dolphin, dusky dolphin, genus Lissodelphis, northern right whale dolphin, southern right whale dolphin, genus Sotalia, Sotalia dolphin, genus Orcinus, killer whale, genus Peponocephala, melon-headed whale, genus Pseudorca, false killer whale, pygmy dolphin, genus Sousa, Amazon river dolphin, genus Sotalia, Chinese white dolphin, gray white dolphin, West African white dolphin, genus Stenella, white-spotted dolphin, fine-spotted dolphin, striped dolphin, piebald dolphin, genus Steno, rough-toothed dolphin, eastern bottlenose dolphin, short-finned pilot whale, long-finned pilot whale G, and so on.

The above is the complete list of whale species in the world compiled for you. If any whale species have been omitted, you can leave a message on Tuliu.com. I hope it can help you.