The North Atlantic Right Whale, or eubalaena glacialis, is one 13 species commonly called “great whales.” Here’s what makes them one of the most unique creatures alive in our oceans today:
Illustration of the North Atlantic Right Whale courtesy of NOAA Fisheries
They’re black, but can have white patches on their bellies. Their heads are covered in patches of rough skin that also appear white due to whale lice. Each of these rough patches are actually unique to the whale and are used by scientists to track population and health of individual whales. They have no dorsal fin, just short pectoral flippers, and broad tails. The right whale is the only whale with a v-shaped spout and two puffs side by side.
At birth, calves can be as big as 14 feet long and grow to a length of 52 feet as mature adults. Right whales have no teeth. They feed on zooplankton, krill, and tiny crustaceans called copepods using baleen plates, a type of sieve or filter that captures huge amounts of food by opening its mouth and filtering the water.
Right whales are social, they can propel themselves upwards to breach the water and slap back down. They communicate through low-frequency sounds and socialize with one another at the water’s surface. They migrate in small groups or sometimes alone, traveling seasonally from the coasts of New England and Canada where they feed and mate in the spring and summer down south over 1,000 miles to South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida in the winter where they give birth to their calves.
Right whales can probably live to be 70 years old. They produce one calf per year-long pregnancy and generally wait about 3 years between each pregnancy.
Candid photo near Provincetown showing how difficult right whales can be for a speeding ship to spot
But without healthy ocean conditions and protection from man-made hazards, life spans are shortening to 45-65 years for female and male whales, respectively. Pregnancies are fewer and further between, waiting on average 6-10 years between calves. Combined with the typical risks from ship collisions and degrading habitats, these factors contribute to their dangerously low population and critically endangered status.
Our hope is that as people get to know about these fascinating whales, more and more like-minded folks will jump in to join this movement to establish a national marine sanctuary that will allow their numbers to thrive once again.
Steady on,
Rob
