right whale
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What is a right whale?
Right whales are any of four species of stout-bodied whales in the family Balaenidae, with enormous heads measuring one-quarter to one-third of their total body length. They include the bowhead, or Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus), and the whales of the genus Eubalaena.
From the 17th to 19th century, right whales were hunted for their oil and strong, elastic baleen, gaining the name because they were the "right whale" to take. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established in 1946 and prohibited the killing of right and gray whales. The IUCN considers two of the four species as endangered. They have been completely protected by international agreement since 1946.
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Where do right whales live?
Right whales are distributed based on species and habitat. The bowhead, or Greenland right whale, is restricted to Arctic seas. Whales of the Eubalaena genus live in temperate waters and include the North Atlantic right whale, the North Pacific right whale, and the Southern right whale. The North Pacific right whale, Eubalaena japonica, lives in the temperate and subpolar waters of the Pacific Ocean. The pygmy right whale is found in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere.
As migratory animals, large whales spend summers in high latitudes near the poles, where food is abundant. In the fall, they move toward the Equator to breed. Some populations, however, stay in one location year-round.
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What do right whales eat?
Right whales are baleen whales with a restricted diet that primarily consists of tiny copepods (shrimplike crustaceans) and pteropods (snail-like mollusks). They are known to skim-feed by locating a concentration of zooplankton prey and swimming through it with their mouths open, which may last for several minutes until they swallow what they have filtered from the water.
Right whales possess structural specializations, such as long, narrow baleen plates with fine bristles and an arched upper jaw, which are necessary to accommodate their baleen, for their diet. Copepods are also key components of marine food chains, which serve either directly or indirectly as food sources for most commercially important fish species.
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How can you recognize a right whale?
Right whales are stout-bodied whales with heads one-quarter to one-third of their total body length. They have a strongly arched upper jaw to accommodate baleen, which are long, narrow plates with fine bristles used to filter feed. The Northern right whale has a horny growth called a bonnet on its snout.
There are three different species of right whale, classified by where they live:
* Eubalaena glacialis of the North Atlantic
* E. japonica of the North Pacific
* E. australis of the Southern HemisphereThey may or may not have white on their underside.
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Why are right whales endangered?
Right whales are endangered due to a combination of historical overhunting and ongoing threats. They were once the "right" whale to hunt because they are large, slow-moving, float when killed, and yielded valuable oil and baleen. This led to near extermination by the early 1800s.
Today, despite international protection since 1946, two of the four right whale species remain endangered. North Atlantic right whales number only in the hundreds. Their declining body size increases their vulnerability to entanglement in fishing gear, such as gill nets and long lines, and reduces reproductive success. Ship collisions, pollution, and illegal hunting also continue to threaten them.
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What efforts are being made to protect right whales?
Right whales, hunted from the 17th to 19th centuries for their oil and baleen, faced near extermination. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has prohibited killing right and gray whales since 1946. Though the United Nations voted in vain for a whaling moratorium in 1972, the IWC agreed to one for commercial whaling during 1986–90; it remains in force.
Despite this moratorium, some whaling continues, and the IUCN still considers two of the four right whale species as endangered. North Atlantic right whales number only in the hundreds. Aside from whaling bans, the northern right whale is still menaced by ship collisions, pollution, entanglement in commercial fishing equipment, and illegal hunting.
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right whale, (family Balaenidae), any of four species of stout-bodied whales having an enormous head measuring one-quarter to one-third their total body length. From the 17th to 19th century, these whales were hunted for their oil and their strong, elastic baleen. Because of the considerable economic value of these products, this cetacean gained its name because it was the “right whale” to take.
The name right whale refers to the bowhead, or Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus), and to the whales of the genus Eubalaena (though originally only to E. glacialis). The bowhead has a black body, a white chin and throat, and, sometimes, a white belly. It can grow to a length of about 20 metres (65.6 feet), up to 40 percent of which is the strongly arched head. About 300 baleen plates line each side of the jaw, each plate measuring up to 4 metres (13.1 feet) long and 36 cm (14.2 inches) wide—although some 5-metre- (16.4-foot-) long plates have been recorded. Bowheads are restricted to Arctic seas.
The whales of the genus Eubalaena, on the other hand, live in temperate waters. Because their ranges do not overlap, these right whales are classified into three different species: E. glacialis of the North Atlantic and E. japonica of the North Pacific, both commonly called northern right whales, and E. australis of the Southern Hemisphere, referred to as the southern right whale. Whether found in northern or southern latitudes, these right whales are estimated to reach a maximum length of about 18 metres (59 feet). They may or may not have white on the underside, and they resemble the bowhead in form but have a smaller, less strongly arched head and shorter baleen plates (just over 2 metres [6.6 feet] in length and 30 cm [11.8 inches] in width). Northern right whales also have a “bonnet,” a horny growth infested with parasites, on the snout.
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Right whales have a very restricted diet of tiny free-swimming copepods (shrimplike crustaceans) and pteropods (snail-like mollusks). Structural specializations for this diet include the enormously long, narrow plates and fine bristles of their baleen and an unusual skull modification—an arched upper jaw necessary to accommodate the baleen.
Right whales were nearly exterminated by uncontrolled hunting, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) considers two of the four species as endangered. They have been completely protected by international agreement since 1946. Whereas at least 10,000 bowheads and approximately 13,000 southern right whales remain, northern right whales are rare, with North Atlantic right whales numbering only in the hundreds and North Pacific right whales numbering only slightly more. The IUCN classifies the North Pacific right whale as an endangered species and the North Atlantic right whale as a critically endangered species. Moreover, researchers note that the average body size of North Atlantic right whales has been declining since 1981 and that this size decrease may be slowing their recovery by increasing their susceptibility to fishing gear entanglement and reducing their overall reproductive success.
The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) was considered a close relative of the bowhead and northern right whale but has been reclassified to a family of its own, Neobalaenidae. Like the other right whales, it has relatively long and narrow baleen, but it also has a dorsal fin and possesses many unique skeletal features, such as a long rib cage with extremely flat, wide ribs. This uncommon species is found in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere. It has not been well studied, and its population is unknown.