Southern right whale

The southern right whale is a large baleen whale of the Southern Hemisphere, distinguished by rough skin callosities and seasonal migrations between feeding and calving grounds.

Baleen: Baleen is a keratinous filtering structure that hangs from the mouths of some whales and sieves prey from water. Southern right whales use baleen plates to strain tiny prey from seawater.
Filter feeding: Filter feeding is a feeding strategy that extracts small prey from water using a filtering structure. Baleen lets the whale capture dense patches of tiny prey without pursuing individual animals.
North Atlantic right whale: The North Atlantic right whale is a critically endangered right whale found in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a close relative with a different ocean range and a much smaller remaining population.
Whaling: Whaling is the hunting of whales for products such as oil, meat, and baleen. Intensive historical hunts sharply reduced southern right whale populations.
Callosity: A callosity is a thickened, rough patch of skin found on the head of a right whale. These pale, rough patches form the identifying patterns on a southern right whale’s head.
Lunge feeding: Lunge feeding is a method in which a whale accelerates into prey while taking a large volume of water into its mouth. Unlike lunge-feeding rorquals, southern right whales mostly feed by skimming or gulping prey-rich water.
North Pacific right whale: The North Pacific right whale is a right whale species inhabiting the North Pacific Ocean. Its Pacific distribution distinguishes it from the southern species.
International Whaling Commission: The International Whaling Commission is an intergovernmental body established to regulate whaling and conserve whale stocks. Its protections helped end commercial hunting of southern right whales.
Whale louse: Whale lice are small parasitic crustaceans that live on the skin of cetaceans. They inhabit the whale’s callosities and contribute to their contrasting coloration.
Whale migration: Whale migration is the seasonal movement of whales between areas used for feeding, breeding, and other life stages. Its annual migration links productive feeding grounds with warmer coastal calving areas.

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