North Atlantic Right Whales
Every year, especially in the early spring, a few lucky Gloucester whale watchers are privileged to catch a glimpse of the rarest of all the great whales... the North Atlantic Right Whale. These 50+ foot giants were called "the 'right' whale to kill" by early Basque-style whalers who hunted these animals in New England waters starting in the early 1600's. Whalers targeted the Right Whales because they are slow moving, live close to shore, and yield massive amounts of blubber and baleen when killed. Both blubber and baleen (or "whale bone") were very sought-after products by early whalers. The blubber was melted down and used for fuel in lamps and lighthouses. Ironically, if oil had not been discovered as a cheaper alternative source of fuel in Pennsylvania in the 1860's Right Whales (and probably Humpbacks too) would have become extinct prior to the 20th century. The baleen or "whale bone" (although it is not actually bone) was used for a wide variety of products from type-writer springs to surgical stitches. From the early 1600's until they were federally protected in 1935 hundreds of thousands of Right Whales were killed and now fewer than 300 remain in existence. Each year a small number of the few remaining Right Whales will pass through our area, possibly while migrating to or from their feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy and their calving grounds off the Georgia/north Florida coast. Because they are so critically endangered federal law prohibits any vessel from intentionally approaching these animals closer than 500 yards. But even from a great distance away it is something to see the rarest and most endangered of all the great whales. Pictured at left is a mother right whale and her new calf on Stellwagen Bank.
Right
Wh
ales can be recognized by their large size (slightly larger that Humpbacks),
rotund body, and by their conspicuous lack of a dorsal fin. Even from a
great distance, experienced whale watcher can be alerted to the possible
presence of a Right Whale just by the shape of the animals "blow" or
"spout". You
see, all baleen whales (or "Mysticetes") such as the Humpback Whale,
Fin Whale, Blue Whale, etc, have a double opening on top of their head through
which they breath. Toothed whales (or "Odontocetes") such as
Dolphins have a single opening. In the Right Whale, the two openings are
so widely spaced that, when viewed from in front of behind, the spout looks like
a "V". Humpback Whales also sometime display a slight
"V-shape" to their spout but nothing like the Right Whale.
The V-Shaped spout of a Right Whale (Stellwagen Bank)
One
of the most curious aspects of the Right Whale's appearance is the hardened
"callosities" on their heads. These callosities are actually
concentrations of "Cyamids" or "whale lice" that infest
wrinkly patches of skin on the Right Whale's head.
Every Right Whale is
born with a different pattern of wrinkly skin on their heads and therefore
develop a different pattern of callosities as Cyamids occupy these wrinkly
patches later in the whale's life. As you may have guessed, researches can
therefore use the pattern of callosities to identify individual Right Whales and
that is how we know that only about 300 of these whales still in existence
today. A whale with a continuous ridge of callosities along the entire
length of its rostrum is said to have a complete "Bonnet". Mast Right
Whale, however, have a "broken bonnet" which consists of small "islands" or
patches of callosities.
Right Whale tail or "fluke". Right whales can also be
recognized by their characteristic smooth, triangular tail.
(Stellwagen Bank)
Return to 7 Seas Whale Watch Home Page
Continue exploring "THE WHALES"...