The scientific order Cetacea encompasses all families of whales, dolphins and porpoises. The name cetacean means ‘large sea-monster’, from the Greek ‘cetus’, meaning large sea animal, and ‘ketos’, meaning sea monster. They range in size from the 100 foot blue whale to the four foot-long Vaquita porpoise, but are all characterized by a fusiform, streamlined body (ACS 2005). The nostrils of a cetacean sit dorsally on top of the skull. The cetacean neck is very short and compact because the seven mammalian neck vertebrae exist as plates that total only six inches.
Species |
Weight |
Length |
Notes |
Vaquita |
1.2-1.5 (meters) |
30-55 (kilograms) |
Smallest Cetacean |
Harbor Porpoise |
1.8 |
55-65 |
|
Commerson’s Dolphin |
1.7 |
35-60 |
|
Dall’s Porpoise |
2.3 |
135-220 |
One of the fastest cetaceans |
Common Dolphin |
2.4 |
70-110 |
|
Dwarf Sperm Whale |
2.7 |
135-275 |
|
Pygmy Sperm Whale |
2.7 |
315-400 |
|
Bottlenose Dolphin |
3.7 |
150-650 |
|
Risso’s Dolphin |
3.9 |
300-500 |
|
Beluga |
5 |
.4 - 1.5 tons |
|
Narwhal |
5 |
.8 – 1.6 tons |
|
Short Fin Pilot Whale |
6.1 |
1 – 4 tons |
|
Strap Tooth Whale |
6.1 |
1 - 3 tons |
|
Pygmy Right Whale |
6.5 |
3 – 3.5 tons |
Smallest Baleen Whale |
Northern Bottlenose Whale |
9 |
5.8 – 7.5 tons |
|
Killer Whale |
9.7 |
2.6 – 9 tons |
Largest dolphin |
Minke Whale |
10.1
|
10 tons |
|
Baird’s Beaked Whale |
12.8 |
11 – 15 tons |
Largest beaked whale |
Right Whale |
13.7-15.2 |
100 tons |
|
Humpback Whale |
13.7-15.2 |
25 – 40 tons |
|
Gray Whale |
14-14.6 |
30 – 40 tons |
|
Sperm Whale |
14.9-18 |
13 – 14 tons |
Largest toothed whale |
Bowhead Whale |
15.2-16.8 |
60 tons |
|
Sei Whale |
15.2-19.8 |
14 – 17 tons |
Fastest baleen whale |
Fin Whale |
26.8 |
70 – 80 tons |
|
Blue Whale |
30.5 |
117 tons |
Earth’s largest animal |
Cetacean size chart. Figure adapted from ACS 2005
