Search results for "eubalaena"

A large, blackish whale with the following features: no dorsal fin; head huge, about one-fourth of total length; baleen (whalebone) about 2 m long, 30 cm wide, and between 200 and 250 in number on each side of mouth; closure of mouth highly arched; no furrows on the throat; prominent, large, wartlike areas (called bonnets), the one near tip of snout largest. Total length of adults, 14-17 m; weight, 20-30 metric tons.

Right whales are primarily solitary animals, although sometimes they are found in pairs. The growths, or callosities, on their head are distinctive enough to identify individuals. They move slowly through the water with their mouth partially agape, straining plankton with their baleen plates. Only about three hundred to six hundred of them still exist because of overhunting for centuries for their oil, meat, and baleen (whalebone). Their common name stems from their being the "right" whale to hunt: They were among the most valuable of whales; they swim slowly, close to shore; and...