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Right whale
fluke
Photo by D. Schulte |
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Right whale
cow/calf pair
Photo by B. Boucher |
Length: 50-60 feet
Weight: up to 50 tons
Status: Endangered Right whales are the most endangered
whales in the Gulf of Maine - sadly, there are only an estimated 350-400
of them left! These whales spend their winters off the coast of Florida
and Georgia, then migrate north to the Bay of Fundy for their summer
feeding season. Occasionally, we are lucky enough to see them if
the whales spend time in our area as they are passing through.
Feeding:
Right whale feed using hundreds of plates of baleen that hang from their
upper jaw. These baleen plates can be as long as 8 feet!
They feed on zooplankton. One of their favorite foods is a small
organism called a copepod.
Migration/calving: This whale
spends its feeding season (spring-fall) in colder latitudes, with most
of the population feeding in areas off southeast Canada in the summer.
Right whales migrate to southern Georgia/northern Florida in the winter,
where females bear their calves. Calves can be 15 feet long and
birth and can weigh 2,000 pounds!
Research: Individual right whales can be distinguished by
callosities, rough patches of skin on their heads. The pattern
made by these callosities does not change over time so it can be used to
tell whales apart.
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