Question 1

True or false: The Sei whale is the third-largest rorqual species, after the blue whale and fin whale.

Accepted Answer

True. Among the rorquals (Balaenopteridae), the blue whale is the largest, the fin whale second, and the sei whale third, with maximum lengths around 64 feet (19.5 meters).

Question 2

True or false: The sei whale is the fastest whale, reaching speeds over 40 miles per hour.

Accepted Answer

False. Sei whales can reach about 35 mph (55 km/h), but no whale reliably exceeds 40 mph, so the claim they are the fastest at that speed is false.

Question 3

True or false: Sei whales have a single blowhole, unlike most baleen whales which have two.

Accepted Answer

False. All baleen whales, including sei whales, have two blowholes. Toothed whales have one.

Question 4

True or false: Sei whales are among the least studied of the large whale species due to their elusive nature.

Accepted Answer

True. They avoid boats and often travel in unpredictable patterns, making research difficult.

Question 5

True or false: Sei whales can dive for over an hour when hunting deep prey.

Accepted Answer

False. They typically dive for only 5-15 minutes. Sperm whales hold the record for hour-long dives.

Question 6

True or false: A sei whale's name comes from the Norwegian word 'seje', meaning pollock, a fish it often feeds near.

Accepted Answer

True. Norwegians noticed sei whales appeared when pollock (seje) arrived, so they named them accordingly.

Question 7

True or false: Sei whales are actually a subspecies of the Bryde's whale, not a separate species.

Accepted Answer

False. They are distinct species. Sei whales have a single ridge on the head, while Bryde's whales have three ridges.

Question 8

True or false: Sei whales have a single ridge extending from the blowhole to the tip of the snout, unlike the two ridges found in fin whales.

Accepted Answer

True. This is a key distinguishing feature between sei and fin whales.

Sei Whale Trivia Questions