Balaenoptera edeni
Anderson, 1878. Anat. Zool. Res., Yunnan, p. 551, pl. 44.

©2002 (photo by B. Stanley; USNM 504944)

COMMON NAME—Bryde's whale, tropical whale.

DISTRIBUTION—Tropical and subtropical zones.
This species generally does not move beyond 40°in either hemisphere (Jefferson et al., 1994). In the Philippines, sighted in Panay Gulf and the eastern Sulu Sea in May, 1995 (Dolar, unpubl. data). Skeleton specimens are housed in SUML.

HABITAT—Coastal and offshore waters.

STATUS—Scarce and poorly known (Klinowska, 1991). This species is being exploited by hunters from Pamilacan, Bohol, and Camiguin (north of Mindanao). Hunting grounds are the Bohol Sea (sometimes called the Mindanao Sea) and the eastern Sulu Sea (Dolar et al., 1994; Leatherwood et al., 1992). CITES: Appendix I. IUCN: Insufficiently known.

COMMENT—Philippine Bryde's whales may be the small coastal form of Bryde's whales found in other regions. Morphometric studies showed that they are relatively smaller than those found in other regions (Perrin et al., 1996b). Genetic studies are currently being done to investigate the validity of this group as a separate species. Preliminary results indicate that the Southeast Asian group is genetically different from all other populations of Bryde's whale and may deserve recognition as a separate species (Dizon et al., 1996).

©2002 (B. Mehl)

©2002 (photo by L. Heaney)

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©2002 Heaney et al., Mammals of the Philippines
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