Blog
Save
Email
Print
ShareThe right whales are marine mammals belonging to the family Balaenidae.
Right whales are baleen whales belonging to the family Balaenidae.
Three right whale species are recognized in the genus Eubalaena, while the Bowhead Whale-also a right whale-is placed in its own genus, Balaena.
Right whales can grow up to 18 m (60 feet) long and weigh up to 100 tonnes.
Their rotund bodies are mostly black, with distinctive white callosities (skin abrasions) on their heads.
They are called "right whales" because whalers thought the whales were the "right" ones to hunt, as they float when killed and often swim within sight of the shore.
Populations were vastly reduced by intensive harvesting during the active years of the whaling industry.
Today, instead of hunting them, people often watch these acrobatic whales for pleasure.
The four right whale species live in distinct locations: around 300 Atlantic Northern Right Whales live in the North Atlantic; approximately 200 Pacific Northern Right Whales live in the North Pacific; about 7,500 Southern Right Whales are spread throughout the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere; and 8,000–9,200 Bowhead Whales are distributed entirely in the Arctic Ocean.
For more information about the topic Right whale, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Baleen whale — The baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form a suborder of the order cetacea. The distinguishing feature between this ... > read more
Bowhead Whale — The Bowhead Whale, also known as Greenland Right Whale or Arctic Whale, is a marine mammal of the order Cetacea. Bowhead Whales are the only baleen ... > read more
Porpoise — The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the ... > read more
Toothed whale — The toothed whales (systematic name Odontoceti) form a suborder of the cetaceans. As the name suggests, the suborder is characterized by having ... > read more
Gray Whale — The Gray Whale or Grey Whale, more recently called the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale, is a whale that travels between feeding and breeding grounds ... > read more
Mountain Zebra — Mountain Zebra consist of two species, namely the Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) and the Hartmann's Mountain Zebra (Equus hartmannae). Previously ... > read more
Great albatross — The great albatrosses are seabirds in the genus Diomedea in the albatross family. Great albatrosses are the largest of the albatrosses and are ... > read more
Wood Bison — The Wood Bison is a distinct northern subspecies of the North American Bison. Reduced by hunting from a total population of about 168,000 to less ... > read more
Blue Whale — The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is believed to be the largest animal ever to ... > read more
Whooping Crane — The Whooping Craneis a very large crane. It is the tallest North American bird.
Adults are white; they have a red crown and a long, dark, pointed ... > read moreRecommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
more 