The fin whale belongs to the roqual family and its scientific name is Baleneaoptera physalus, which means winged whale and bellows, with bellows referring to the pleated underside of the whale. It is also known as finback, razorback, finner and common rorqual. The fin whale is the second largest mammal on earth and are able to navigate by by emitting low frequency noises off hydro graphic features from tens or hundreds of miles away. These whales a relatively solitary creatures and are rarely found in groups.

The fin whale is long and sleek and is are sometimes referred to as the greyhound of the ocean. They are a dark grey on top and white underneath and somewhat unusually their lower jaw is white on one side and black on the other. They have pigment on the side of their head known as 'blaze' and a 'v' shaped feature across the back behind their blowholes. The female fin whale is expected to live to around the age of eighty years old and slightly less for the male of the species.

The length of an adult fin whale can reach up to 27m or 90ft, and fully grown can reach between 45 to 75 tons in weight and as with the blue whales the female of the species is slightly longer, approximately 1-3m or 3-10ft.

The diet of the fin whale differs from that of the blue whale in that it does not solely eat krill, they also consume a range of schooling fish, including anchovy and herring. It is estimated that the fin whale can consume 6 tons of food per day. They have 262-473 plates of baleen on each side of their mouth and the fine fraying hairs measure 92cm or 8in in length. These sift through the water for their prey in the same way other rorquals feed. The fin whale will return to the same feeding ground each year which it was brought to in its natal year by its mother.

The fin whale moves into warm waters to breed in the winter time and also to give birth. The fin whale calf is estimated to weigh around 2 tons and measures approximately 6.5m or 21ft. The gestation period for the calf is around 11-12 months and during the final two months of gestation the calf will double in size and along with the blue whale has the fastest foetal growth rate in the animal kingdom. The fin whale will reach sexual maturity at five or six years old and the female is able to conceive into her late fifties. The calf will feed on its mothers fat rich milk up to the age of seven months when it is weaned.

First grade oil from the blubber which is edible was used for the manufacturing of margarine, and also in the production of soft soap. Oil was also extracted from meat and bones after they were pressure cooked. Meat extract was also produced from the meat and was very edible similar to branded meat extract drinks. The liver was also processed to produce liver oil for medicinal purposes. The meat residue from the pressure cookers was rendered down to make cattle feed and fertilizers. The baleen plates from the mouth which in the olden days were used for stays for ladies corsets but in modern whaling the baleen plates were discarded.