Photo: (c) Fred Derks, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY · Source and license. Displayed as a resized crop. Photograph illustrates the species.
Habitat
Open ocean waters across the world’s oceans
Viewing zone
Observe at the surface from shore or a boat
Viewing activities
Offshore
Life and behavior
Often travels in small groups and may feed alongside other whale species.
Wider distribution
Found in the world’s oceans.
When to look
The available records do not establish a reliable local viewing season. Use the map’s month filter to inspect dated observations; it does not predict an encounter.
WHERE HAS IT BEEN RECORDED?
Explore the featured regions
These dated records show past presence. They do not establish today’s abundance, guarantee a sighting, or describe the species’ entire range.
Hawaiʻi
Recorded here
52,645 OBIS records in the regional query · snapshot 2026-09-12.
Individual records in this sample do not supply habitat or depth. Use the species reference above for biological context.
OBIS · 2023-01-28Fin whales localized acoustic detections in Hawaiian waters 2017-2023 · Regina A. Guazzo, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
OBIS · 2022-12-16Fin whales localized acoustic detections in Hawaiian waters 2017-2023 · Regina A. Guazzo, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
OBIS · 2021-12-24Fin whales localized acoustic detections in Hawaiian waters 2017-2023 · Regina A. Guazzo, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
