• Gulpers or Swallowers - these are whales that alternatively swim then gulp a mouthful of plankton or fish. Concentrated masses of prey are preferable for this method of feeding. Gulpers include most rorquals, blue whales, pygmy blue whales, fin whales, Bryde's whales, humpback whales, and minke whales.
• Skimmers - these whales keep their mouths open most of the time, filtering food all the while. Skimmers include the right whales, pygmy right whales, and bowhead whales)
• Swallowers and skimmers - Sei whales do both.
• Benthic (bottom) feeders that vacuum the mud on the ocean floor. Gray whales are benthic feeders.

CLASSIFICATION OF BALEEN WHALES
Mysticeti or baleen whales - These "great whales" are among the largest animals on earth. They have baleen plates instead of teeth, which they use to filter food. They are larger than the toothed whales and have two blow holes.

• Family Eschrichtiidae - the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is the only bottom feeder. As it swims along the bottom of the ocean stirring up sediment, it takes the nutrient-rich murky water into its mouth, and forces it out through its short baleen, retaining tiny organisms.
• Family Balaenopteridae (the rorqual whales; rorqual is Norwegian for furrow). These whales have 25-100 parallel throat grooves that extend from the throat to the flippers. When they eat, these grooves expand, allowing them to take huge gulps of water, forcing it through their short baleen to filter out tiny organisms. They have long, sleek bodies, a median notch, and a small dorsal fin.
  Subfamily: Balaenopterinae - streamlined body, small, falcate dorsal fin
  • Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
  • Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
  • Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
  • Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
  • Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
  Subfamily: Megapterinae - long flippers with rough edges,
  • Humpback Whale (Megeptera novaeangliae)
• Family Balaenidae - the right whales swim along the surface open-mouthed, skimming the water with long, fine baleen. They have no dorsal fin, no throat grooves, and a huge, arched jaw.
  • Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
  • Northern Right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
  • Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
• Family Neobalaenidae - bowed head, short baleen, falcate dorsal fin.
  • Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata)
• Family Cetotheriidae - (EXTINCT)
  • Cetotherium - an extinct, early baleen whale from the mid to late Miocene. 13 feet (4 m) long. It looked like a small gray whale.