Facts About Northern Right Whales
Two Separate Species
The Northern right whale is also known as the Black right whale, Biscayan right whale and the Nordkaper. Genetic evidence discovered recently now indicates that there are two separate species, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica), that over millennia evolved separately.
The term ‘right’ is used because they are slow swimmers who swim close to the shores and remain floating when harpooned making them easy targets and the ‘right’ whale to catch.
Description
They are one of the large whales and have been known to grow up to 60 feet (18.3 m) long and weigh up to117 tons (106,500 kg). On their underside they are black, often with irregular white patches. The back is broad but has no fin and flippers are large and paddle-shaped.
Both species are virtually identical and have raised, rough, patches of skin that are called callosities that form around their mouths and face. These appear on both male and female and also on calves and their purpose is unknown. These are black, but can look white or an orange white due to infestation by whale lice.
Diet
Their diet consists mainly of tiny copepods and occasionally krill. They tend to ‘graze’ by swimming at slow speeds with their mouth open allowing sea water to pass through to the back where it is filtered through the baleen for food, which is then swallowed.
Population
Northern right whales are an endangered species and are in real threat of extinction. Only around 300 of the North Atlantic species are thought to survive today. The situation with the North Pacific population is less certain and more critical with only around 100 of the eastern population thought to survive. It is thought the western Pacific population may consist of a few hundred individuals only.
Breeding
It is uncertain at what age males reach sexual maturity but it is usually when they have grown to a length of between 30 and 40 feet. Females can reach sexual maturity when they have grown up to 40 to 45 feet. Northern right whales have a gestation period of 12months and calve every 3 to 5 years. The calf will remain with its mother for around 12 months.
Although they are often seen as singles, or in pairs, they do sometimes form small groups of 1 to 3 whales and sometimes larger groups of up 30 individuals.
Range
The western North Atlantic has the largest population. In summer they are found mainly off the coast of Cape Cod, the Bay of Fundy and around the Scotia Shelf. In the winter they are found in their breeding grounds off Georgia and Florida. Very occasionally they have been seen in European waters but it is rare.
In the North Pacific they are mainly found in the Sea of Okhotsk out to the Bay of Alaska and have occasionally been seen off the United States coast and Baja California.
Small numbers survive in the North Pacific mainly from the Sea of Okhotsk out to the Gulf of Alaska, with occasional sightings off the coasts of the United States and Baja California, Mexico.
References and Attributions
File:Eubalaena glacialis with calf.jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain Image
ScienceDaily
Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit
Animal Diversity Web
The Northern right whale is also known as the Black right whale, Biscayan right whale and the Nordkaper. Genetic evidence discovered recently now indicates that there are two separate species, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica), that over millennia evolved separately.
The term ‘right’ is used because they are slow swimmers who swim close to the shores and remain floating when harpooned making them easy targets and the ‘right’ whale to catch.
Description
They are one of the large whales and have been known to grow up to 60 feet (18.3 m) long and weigh up to117 tons (106,500 kg). On their underside they are black, often with irregular white patches. The back is broad but has no fin and flippers are large and paddle-shaped.
Both species are virtually identical and have raised, rough, patches of skin that are called callosities that form around their mouths and face. These appear on both male and female and also on calves and their purpose is unknown. These are black, but can look white or an orange white due to infestation by whale lice.
Diet
Their diet consists mainly of tiny copepods and occasionally krill. They tend to ‘graze’ by swimming at slow speeds with their mouth open allowing sea water to pass through to the back where it is filtered through the baleen for food, which is then swallowed.
Population
Northern right whales are an endangered species and are in real threat of extinction. Only around 300 of the North Atlantic species are thought to survive today. The situation with the North Pacific population is less certain and more critical with only around 100 of the eastern population thought to survive. It is thought the western Pacific population may consist of a few hundred individuals only.
Breeding
It is uncertain at what age males reach sexual maturity but it is usually when they have grown to a length of between 30 and 40 feet. Females can reach sexual maturity when they have grown up to 40 to 45 feet. Northern right whales have a gestation period of 12months and calve every 3 to 5 years. The calf will remain with its mother for around 12 months.
Although they are often seen as singles, or in pairs, they do sometimes form small groups of 1 to 3 whales and sometimes larger groups of up 30 individuals.
Range
The western North Atlantic has the largest population. In summer they are found mainly off the coast of Cape Cod, the Bay of Fundy and around the Scotia Shelf. In the winter they are found in their breeding grounds off Georgia and Florida. Very occasionally they have been seen in European waters but it is rare.
In the North Pacific they are mainly found in the Sea of Okhotsk out to the Bay of Alaska and have occasionally been seen off the United States coast and Baja California.
Small numbers survive in the North Pacific mainly from the Sea of Okhotsk out to the Gulf of Alaska, with occasional sightings off the coasts of the United States and Baja California, Mexico.
References and Attributions
File:Eubalaena glacialis with calf.jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain Image
ScienceDaily
Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit
Animal Diversity Web