Description
Omura's whale is among the smallest of the rorquals (only the two species of Minke whale are smaller). Of the six specimens taken during Japanese whaling off the Solomon Islands in 1976, the largest adult female was 11.5 metres (38 ft) and the largest adult male 9.6 metres (31 ft). Based on earplug laminations, the former was estimated to be 29-years-old and the latter 38-years-old. Its appearance resembles the larger fin whale, both having the asymmetrical white, right lower jaw, as well as streaks radiating out from the eye region. Its dorsal fin is similar to Bryde's whale, being very falcate and rising at a steep angle; but it is more rounded than the latter species, which usually has a much more pointed fin. Unlike Bryde's, however, they appear to only have one prominent ridge on the rostrum (Bryde's usually have three). It has 80–90 ventral pleats, which extend past the navel. Its 180–210 pairs of baleen plates are short and broad, usually being yellowish-white to black (at times two-tone).
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