3 dorsal fin shapes are documented. Knick on dorsal fins can be used to identify a certain whales in a colony. Humpback whales, have distinctive markings on the underside of their tails. Different spouting ways and diving sequences. Streamlined, torpedo-shaped bodies propelled by vertical beat of horizontal tail flukes.
Most cetaceans have a prominent upper jaw in front of the eyes.
Baleen whales have a long upper jaw, narrow and arched or wide and flat, with baleen plates for sieving food from the water, flatness of the head above eyes and double blowhole. Toothed whales have a narrow straight upper jaw, at least one pair of teeth in lower jaw, a 'knob' above the eyes and upper jaw and the blowhole is high up on the forehead. Baleen whales have wide separated lower jaws. Toothed whales have very narrow lower jaw consisting of two jawbones fused together. Eyes are small with no eyebrows or lashes.