North Atlantic Right Whales

The North Atlantic right whale, also known as the northern right whale or the black right whale, belongs to the taxonomic genus Eubalaena along with two other species of right whale.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetacea
Family	Balaenidae
Genus	Eubalaena
Species	glacialis

Habitat

North Atlantic right whales can be found in both the east and west of the North Atlantic Ocean, although the eastern population is so small it is considered effectively extinct.

Description

Typically, North Atlantic right whales measure 43 to 52 feet in length and weigh 88,000 to 150,000 pounds; the largest ever measured was 60 feet long and weighed 234,000 pounds. They can be dark gray or black, with white patches on the underside and white callosities colored by whale lice.

Diet

Though technically carnivores, North Atlantic right whales are baleen filter feeders, subsisting predominantly on small crustaceans and other small invertebrates, typically feeding by slowly swimming through areas of high concentration of these organisms.

Reproduction

The North Atlantic right whale begins reproducing around age nine or ten, with a gestation period of about a year. The western population reproduces in winter off the coast of the southeastern United States, with a gap of about three to six years between births.

Behavior

Right whales are observed at the surface most often during mating season, when groups engage in courting activity known as a surface active group; outside of this time they appear relatively inactive at the surface.

Conservation

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered whale species: hardly more than ten are believed to exist in the eastern North Atlantic, and only about 400 in the western North Atlantic, their numbers crippled largely by historical whaling. They face threats from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and climate change.