---
title: Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
scientific_name: Balaenoptera edeni
common_name: Bryde's Whale
taxon: Whales
conservation_status: LC - Least Concern
published: 2026-08-05T11:30:33.678Z
updated: 2026-08-14T11:57:50.754Z
tags: Bryde's Whale, Balaenoptera edeni, Whales, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/mammals/whales/brydes-whale
---

# Bryde's Whale (*Balaenoptera edeni*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Whales (*Balaenopteridae*)
- **Size:** up to 15 m
- **Weight:** 12-25 tonnes
- **Depth:** 0-300 m
- **Max age:** up to 50+ yrs
- **Diet:** Filter feeder
- **Activity:** Cathemeral
- **Rarity:** Very Rare
- **Habitat:** Warm open water over the shelf and near upwellings
- **Reproduction:** Live-bearer, Gonochoric
- **CITES:** Appendix I
- **Conservation status:** LC - Least Concern

## How to recognise it

- three parallel ridges along the top of the head, unique among rorquals
- tall hooked fin appearing at the same moment as the blow
- does not raise its tail when diving
- length up to 15 m

A rorqual to 15 m (49 ft), dark above and pale below, with a tall hooked fin that breaks the surface almost at the same moment as the blow. The identification is on the head: three parallel ridges run from the blowholes forward, where every other rorqual has one.

It is the tropical member of the family and the only one that stays put. The rest migrate between cold feeding grounds and warm breeding grounds; this one lives its whole life in warm water and feeds wherever an upwelling concentrates its food, which means its movements follow productivity rather than the calendar.

Feeding is the largest single action in the animal world. The whale accelerates into a school, opens a jaw the width of its body and takes in a volume of water heavier than itself, the pleated throat ballooning out to hold it; then the mouth closes and the water is forced back out through the baleen, leaving the fish behind. One lunge costs an enormous amount of energy and has to pay for itself, which is why these whales feed only on dense patches and ignore thin ones.

The taxonomy is unsettled. What is called Bryde's whale is at least two forms, a large offshore one and a smaller coastal one, and they may prove to be separate species.

## Also known as

- **English:** coastal form Bryde's whale, Eden's whale, Kochi whale
- **Arabic:** حوت بريدي الجنوبي, حوت بريدي الشائع, حوت بريدي القزم
- **Hebrew:** לווייתן עדני, לויתן טרופי
- **French:** rorqual de Bryde, Baleinoptère de Bryde, Rorqual de Sittang
- **Italian:** balenottera di Bryde, balenottera di Eden
- **German:** Edenwal, Brydes Wal, Bryde-Wal
- **Spanish:** ballena arenquera, ballena caribena, ballena de Bryde
- **Greek:** Φάλαινα του Eden, Φάλαινα του Εντεν
- **Turkish:** Cüce Bryde balinası, Bryde balinası, Eden balinası
- **Portuguese:** Baleia-de-bryde
- **Dutch:** Bryde's vinvis, Edens vinvis, Brydevinvis
- **Swedish:** Edens fenval
- **Polish:** Płetwal tropikalny, płetwal równikowy
- **Czech:** plejtvák Brydeův
- **Japanese:** katsuo kuzira, nitari kujira, ogasawara-kuzira
- **Chinese:** 小布氏鲸, 布氏鯨, 布氏鲸
- **Ukrainian:** Смугастик Брайда
- **Russian:** Полосатик Брайда
- **AF:** Bryde se Walvis, Bryde-walvis
- **DA:** Brydeshval
- **FI:** Tropiikinvalas, tropiikkivalas
- **HU:** Trópusi bálna, Bryde-bálna
- **KO:** beuraideu-gorae, 브라이드고래
- **LT:** Braido nykštukinis ruožuotis
- **MLG:** trozon'i Bryde, trozon'i tropika
- **NO:** Dvergbrydehval, brydehval
- **SL:** Bridov kit, Brydov kit
- **TH:** plawan sittang, วาฬบรูด้า, วาฬแกลบสามสัน

## Scientific synonyms

- *Baloenoptera brydei* Cadenat, 1957

## Range

Comoros, Federal Republic of Somalia, Gulf of Martaban, Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Madagascar, Mediterranean Sea, Mozambique, New Zealand, North Atlantic Ocean, Republic of Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Western Indian Ocean

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/mammals/whales/brydes-whale)*
*Updated: August 14, 2026*