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Species of Special Concern
Photo courtesy of NOAA - SASStatus
Alaska endangered species; Federal endangered species
Description
Northern right whales grow up to 56 feet in length and are mostly black with some white patches on their bellies. They have large heads (about one-fourth of their total length) with strongly arched jaws and wide bodies. Their spouts are "V"-shaped and they have no back fin. Light-colored, wart-like skin patches on their heads are called callosities.
Habitats and Habits
Right whales are currently found in the northern and southern hemispheres, including both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Alaska right whales feed in the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean during the summer and probably migrate to lower latitudes to calve during the winter. They eat small animals, called zooplankton, that in turn eat microscopic plants, called phytoplankton. Right whales swim through patches of zooplankton with their large mouths open. When the mouth is closed the water strains out through the sides. The zooplankton is caught on fringed baleen plates and swallowed. Baleen is located in the same place as our teeth, but is made of the same substance as fingernails. The especially long baleen of right whales provides more surface area for trapping tiny zooplankton than the shorter baleen of other kinds of whales that consume fish and larger zooplankton.
Causes of Decline
Right whales were hunted to near extinction because of their thick blubber, long baleen, slow swimming speed and presence in coastal areas. They were considered the "right" whale to hunt, hence the common name. Yankee whalers took large numbers in the "Kodiak Grounds," an area from the eastern Aleutians through the Gulf of Alaska, from 1835 to the early 1850s. Whether the current population of 100 to 500 animals is increasing, decreasing or stable is unknown.
Range of the Northern Right Whale in Alaskan watersResearch and Recovery
Right whales are so rarely sighted that little can be done on their behalf. Any reports of right whales verified with photographs, videotape, or other reliable means should be reported promptly to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Text: Linda Shaw
For Additional Information
Please contact:
Doug Vincent-Lang
(907) 267-2339
