Right Whales: Eubalaena glacialis, E. japonica, and E. australis

Abstract

There are three species of right whales—in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Ocean. The two Northern Hemisphere species are the world’s most endangered whales. Although whaling is no longer an issue, mortality from vessel collisions and entanglement is retarding recovery, with growing concern about the effects of climate change, pollution, and noise. Right whales migrate between high-latitude feeding grounds, where they feed on dense concentrations of copepods and other zooplankton, and low-latitude calving grounds. The species differ in habitats occupied—in the North Atlantic both calving and feeding grounds are in continental shelf waters, North Pacific right whales occur in offshore habitats year-round, and southern right whales calve in coastal areas and feed in pelagic waters. Their life history characteristics include maturity at about 10 years of age and an interbirth interval of 3 years, but longevity is not known.