Right whale

Lore & Background

A common explanation for the name right whales is that they were regarded as the right ones to hunt, as they float when killed and often swim within sight of shore. They are quite docile and do not tend to shy away from approaching boats. As a result, they were hunted nearly to extinction during the active years of the whaling industry. However, this origin is questionable. The generic name Eubalaena means 'good or true whales', and specific names include glacialis ('ice') for North Atlantic species, australis ('southern') for Southern Hemisphere species, and japonica ('Japanese') for North Pacific species.

Reader's Guide

All three species are migratory, moving seasonally to feed or give birth. The warm equatorial waters form a barrier that isolates the northern and southern species from one another although the southern species, at least, has been known to cross the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, right whales tend to avoid open waters and stay close to peninsulas and bays and on continental shelves. In the Southern Hemisphere, right whales feed far offshore in summer, but a large portion of the population occur in near-shore waters in winter. Right whales feed mainly on copepods but also consume krill and pteropods. They may forage the surface, underwater or even the ocean bottom. During courtship, males gather into large groups to compete for a single female. Gestation tends to last a year, and calves are weaned at eight months old.

Did You Know?

• Right whales were a preferred target for whalers because of their docile nature, their slow surface-skimming feeding behaviors, their tendency to stay close to the coast, and their high blubber content.
• The two leading causes of death for right whales today are being struck by ships and entanglement in fishing gear.
• Whale lice, parasitic cyamid crustaceans, live off skin debris on right whales and their genetics helped determine that the three right whale species split 5–6 million years ago.