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Animal profile

Rice's Whale

Balaenoptera ricei

MammaliaContinental shelf-break waters of the north-eastern Gulf of MexicoCritically Endangered

Field profile

Rice's whale is a baleen whale of roughly 12 metres, closely resembling Bryde's whale and long treated as one of its populations. It lives year-round in a narrow band of the Gulf of Mexico and numbers only a few dozen animals. It was formally described as a separate species in 2021.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-03-27

Rice's Whale

A whale species was described in 2021

Whales in the Gulf of Mexico were assumed to be a population of Bryde's whale until genetic and skull evidence separated them. Rice's whale was named in 2021, immediately becoming one of the rarest large animals on Earth.

Read with evidence →

Rice's Whale | Daily Animal Facts