Right whale

 

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Classification:

Global Population

Description and Natural History

Physical Description
Right whales are a medium-sized, stocky baleen whale. Adults are 14 - 17 meters (46 - 56 feet) long and weigh an average of 60 tonnes (66 tons). Calves are born about six to seven meters (20 - 23 feet) long every three or four years. North Atlantic right whales are black or dark gray, and may have white markings on the belly or chin. Right whales, like bowhead whales, have no dorsal fin or ridge on the broad back. Flippers are broad and paddle-like. The head can measure up to 1/4 of the entire body length and is characterized by an arched jawline and areas of raised, roughened skin called callosities. The callosities appear light colored because of the whale lice found attached. Due to the separation of the two blow holes, right whales can be identified from a distance by their bushy, v-shaped blow.

Natural History
Northern right whales are found in temperate and subpolar waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Although most individuals from the Northwest Atlantic population are distributed between Nova Scotia, Canada and Florida, U.S., some have been spotted as far north as Iceland and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Calving occurs during winter (December-April) in shallow near-shore areas off the coasts of Georgia and Florida, after which the whales migrate north to feeding, nursing and mating grounds off New England and eastern Canada. Right whales can be found here from about July to November feeding on plankton, especially copepods, in shallow coastal waters.

The North Pacific right whale population is geographically isolated from the North Atlantic population. New research indicates that this population is actually genetically distinct and therefore a unique species. The North Pacific population is found during the summer in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the northern Gulf of Alaska, south to the Sea of Japan, the Pacific coast of northern Honshu, and the coast of central California. During the winter, the population ranges south to the region of Taiwan, China, the Ogasawara Gunto and Baja California.

The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered large whale in the world. The Northwest Atlantic population numbers between 300 and 350 individuals. Population estimates for the North Pacific population suggest that a few hundred individuals exist throughout their range and that the western population is larger then the eastern population. If the North Pacific right whale is a distinct species, it may become a top a conservation priority and require similar listings to those of the North Atlantic right whale.

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Status of the Species

Status
The North Atlantic right whale is listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Both the North Pacific right whale and the North Atlantic right whale are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and are listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Threats to the Species
Historically, slow swimming speeds (maximum 3 - 5 knots) and the tendency to float when killed made the right whale an easy target for early whalers who hunted them as early as the 11th century for their thick blubber and long baleen. By the mid 1800s, they had been hunted to very low numbers.

Since their complete international protection in 1937, the North Atlantic right whale has failed to recover from earlier overexploitation. Even after protection, the North Pacific population continued to suffer illegal hunting throughout the 1960s.

Today, as much as one-third of North Atlantic right whale mortality is thought to be caused by human activities. Ship collisions, entanglement in fishing gear and habitat degradation coupled with an already small population size and low reproductive rate, are thought to be limiting the right whale's ability to recover. Recent research also points to the effects of weather on prey abundance and distribution and therefore on the number of calves born each year.

The United States has implemented a Recovery Plan that includes modifications to fishing gear, fishing area closures, and a minimum 500-yard approach limit to boaters. As well, Cape Cod Bay, Great South Channel and southeastern US waters have been designated as critical right whale habitats. Although Canada has no legislation in effect to protect right whales in Canadian waters, the Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin have been designated as seasonal conservation areas, and communication between researchers, the Coast Guard and vessel traffic has been initiated. Even though the North Pacific right whale may be experiencing similar threats, no studies exist to evaluate the impacts on the population.

International Trade
No legal trade.

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Authors and Sources

Sources
CITES. 2001. http://www.cites.org.

IUCN. 2001. The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.redlist.org.

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