Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9
Special Significance of the Species
The significance of the sei whale to the whaling industry was largely a function of its high quality meat. Andrews (1916) reports it tasting somewhere between pork and veal. Thus, the sei whale did not become a target species until the importance (and availability) of whale meat surpassed that of oil. In the Antarctic and the North Pacific, the sei whale became a target species in the second half of the 20th century (Perry et al. 1999, Gregr et al. 2000). In the eastern North Atlantic, sei whales were hunted since the late 1800s (Jonsgård and Darling 1977).
Since the sei whale is rarely found near shore, it is not the primary target of whale watching operations. Similarly, this offshore distribution means the species never played a role in the lives of coastal Aboriginal groups (Allan McNeill, Eric Grandison, personal communication), except perhaps intermittently in the northeastern Pacific. Nevertheless, as one of the largest animals in the marine environment, sei whales likely have a significant ecological role.
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