Bryde's whales may be confused with sei whales, minke whales and even fin whales. However there is one important difference, Bryde's whales have three parallel ridges on their heads where the others have only two. Their slender bodies are smoky grey in colour, which may seem brown in some lights. They are often mottled and slightly scarred and their undersides (bellies) are light purple, grey-blue or creamy-grey.

Bryde's whales have between 40 and 70 throat pleats, which allow their mouths to expand when they are feeding. Their dorsal fins are erect and hooked, with a pointed tip, their tail flukes are broad with a distinct middle notch, and their flippers are slender and relatively short, approximately one tenth of their body length. Bryde's whales are between 3.4 and 4 metres (11ft 3in - 13ft 3in) long when they are born. They grow to between 11.5 and 14.5 metres (37ft 9in - 47ft 6in) long and females tend to be slightly larger than males.

When they are born, Bryde's whales weigh about 900kg (1985lb). When they are fully grown, they weigh between 12 and 20 tonnes.
As with all baleen whales, Bryde’s whales do not have teeth. There are between 250 – 410 baleen plates (about 15 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide) which may be separated at the front of the mouth by a gap. Most baleen is black or dark gray, although near the front of the mouth, it may be cream-colored.

It is thought that Bryde’s whales breed throughout the year, giving birth to a single calf weighing 900 kilograms (1,985 pounds) and measuring four meters (13.3 feet) in length. Sexual maturity is thought to be reached somewhere between eight and ten years of age. These whales are lunge feeders, taking in large amounts of water and prey (such as schooling fish and krill) which they filter out through their baleen. They often feed alone or in pairs but can be found in groups of ten to 20 on feeding grounds. Bryde's whales rarely show their flukes above the water. Their blow can be tall and thin, but they can also exhale under water and surface with little or no blow. Bryde's whales may approach boats.

Bryde's is pronounced "broo-dess". The whales are named after Johan Bryde who helped in the building of the first whaling factory in Durban, South Africa in 1909.Unlike other baleen whales, Bryde's whales do not migrate, and spend the whole year in tropical and subtropical waters.

Offshore Bryde's whales are larger than those that live near the coast and have larger baleen and more scars too. The scars on their skin are caused by parasites or even Cookie-cutter sharks! The Bryde's Whale consumes whatever shoaling prey is available, and often exploits the activities of other predators, swimming through and engulfing the fish they have herded. Therefore, it is frequently found in areas of high fish abundance, along with seabirds, seals, sharks and other cetaceans.