Right Whales

(Eubalaena spp.)

The Right Whale is a baleen whale that feeds on zooplankton mostly, but they also eat copepods, krill, pteropods, and more. Sometimes they even look for food in mud on the bottom of the ocean. They find things like steropods, euphasiids, and mysids. Right whales are baleen whales which means that they have baleen plates that have long bristles hanging from them. They strain out small crustaceans, including krill, from the water. Baleen whales just hold their mouths open and they get food out of the water.

Northern Right Whale females grow to be about 50 feet long. Males grow to be about 49 feet long and they weigh approximately 120,000 pounds. Southern Right Whale females grow to be 54 feet long, and males grow to be about 50 feet long. The females are slightly larger than the males, but that is so with all baleen whales.

Right Whale gestation lasts for about 12 months, and the calf is 16-19 feet long when born. Within the first 10 seconds of the baby's it swims to the surface for air with help from its mother's flippers. 30 minutes after the baby whale is born it can swim. The Right Whale mother lives near the surface of the water around the time that the baby is born. The tail comes out first, as this happens with most whales and dolphins. The whale nurses its mother's milk for about 1 year. When it is weaned it is about 28 feet long.

Right Whales are in the family of balaenidae. Here is a complete scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetea

Suborder: Mysteceti

Family: Balaenidae

Genus: Eubalaena

Right Whales have growths called callosites on their skin. They have two blowholes, and a head that adds up to a quarter of the body length. Right Whales have more hair than most whales. They have much on their head and body. The whale's lower jaw is bow-shaped like the Bowhead Whale. The Right Whale is like the Bowhead Whale but smaller.

Right Whales are found in both temperate and cool seas of the world. Southern right whales live at temperatures from 20-55. Sometimes the will go to 63.

The Right Whale gets its name from hunters who called it "the right whale to hunt" because they are rich in blubber and oils, they are easy to catch because they are slow swimmers, and they float when they are killed.

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