Marine Mammals
North Atlantic Right Whale
Eubalaena glacialis
ALSO KNOWN AS
Black whales
DISTRIBUTION
Warm temperate to subpolar latitudes of the north Atlantic Ocean
ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT
Coastal to open ocean
FEEDING HABITS
Filter feeder
TAXONOMY
Order Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), Family Balaenidae (right whales & bowheads)
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North Atlantic right whales are baleen whales, meaning they filter their food through bristles made of keratin in their mouths. They’re seasonal feeders, spending their summers feeding on copepods in the northern part of their range. When winter arrives, they travel between Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence down the eastern United States as far south as Florida, using coastal and nearshore waters as their primary migration and seasonal feeding routes. Once abundant throughout the Atlantic Ocean, they are now critically endangered.
North Atlantic right whales were devastated by whaling in the 19th century and were hunted to the brink of extinction. It’s likely that they were named “right whale” because they were the “right” ones to hunt – slow-moving, surface-dwelling animals that migrate close to the coast and float when they are killed. In the 1990s, North Atlantic right whales hit a population low of 270 animals. Since then, they’ve started making a fragile recovery but their numbers have started to drop again. Between 2017 and 2021 at least 34 right where were killed, 21 of them in busy Canadian waters. There are now approximately 330 North Atlantic right whales remaining.
North Atlantic right whales are baleen whales, meaning they filter their food through bristles made of keratin in their mouths. They’re seasonal feeders, spending their summers feeding on copepods in the northern part of their range. When winter arrives, they travel between Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence down the eastern United States as far south as Florida, using coastal and nearshore waters as their primary migration and seasonal feeding routes. Once abundant throughout the Atlantic Ocean, they are now critically endangered.
North Atlantic right whales were devastated by whaling in the 19th century and were hunted to the brink of extinction. It’s likely that they were named “right whale” because they were the “right” ones to hunt – slow-moving, surface-dwelling animals that migrate close to the coast and float when they are killed. In the 1990s, North Atlantic right whales hit a population low of 270 animals. Since then, they’ve started making a fragile recovery but their numbers have started to drop again. Between 2017 and 2021 at least 34 right where were killed, 21 of them in busy Canadian waters. There are now approximately 330 North Atlantic right whales remaining.
There are three separate species of right whales; North Atlantic right whales, North Pacific right whales and Southern right whales. North Atlantic right whales are mostly black in colour, but sometimes have white markings on their faces and undersides. They have thick grey or white patches, called callosities, scattered across their bodies which are created by whale lice, barnacles and parasitic worms. The patterns these callosities form are unique to each whale, allowing scientists to distinguish individuals.
Right whales are one of the largest species on Earth and have massive heads that measure almost one-third of their total length. They grow to around 15 metres in length and weigh up to 70 tonnes, with females growing slightly larger than males. They have large, round bodies with large square flippers and no dorsal fin.
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Historically, North Atlantic right whales have lived until they are at least 70 years old and gave birth every three to four years. Due to all the threats they’re facing, now scientists estimate a female whale’s life expectancy is only 27 to 28 years and she will only give birth every eight years. Right whale calves nurse for the first one to two years of their lives but remain close to their mothers until they reach sexual maturity at around age 10.
They usually give birth in the southern United States, off the coasts of Florida and Georgia, in the winter months and then travel north to feed in waters off the Maritimes, Quebec, Maine and Massachusetts during the summer. Recently, researchers found that up to forty per cent of right whales are spending the summer and autumn months in the Gulf of St. Lawrence eating and socializing.
In the 1800s, right whales were targeted by whalers and hunted to the brink of extinction. In 1935, right whales gained international protection, effectively ending all direct efforts to hunt these whales. Even though there is no longer an industry for right whales, fishing remains one of the greatest threats they face. Between 2017 and 2021 at least 34 right where were killed in Canadian and American waters. These deaths were largely attributed to entanglements with fishing gear and vessel strikes.
North Atlantic right whales are particularly susceptible to entanglement with fishing gear and vessel strikes because they are dark in colour and feed close to the surface in coastal waters where boat traffic is high. Evidence from scarring has shown that almost 90 per cent of right whales have had encounters with fishing gear.
Since 2017 the Canadian government has implemented a series of annual measures designed to reduce entanglement with fishing gear and vessel strikes. Mandatory measures include fisheries closures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Roseway Basin and the Grand Manan Basin. These affect several fisheries including snow crab, lobster, Greenland halibut (fixed gear), cod (fixed gear), herring (gill nets) and many more. There is also a lot of ongoing work to test “ropeless” fishing gear, as well as mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and a voluntary slowdown in the Cabot Strait.
North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered whales on the planet. Their population was decimated by whaling in the 19th century and now they face a myriad of threats including entanglements in fishing gear, ship strikes, ocean noise and pollution. After the death of 34 whales between 2017-2021, their population was most recently estimated to be about 330 individuals. This number is exacerbated by the fact that there are only 100 females remaining in the population.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) listed North Atlantic right whales as Endangered. They were added to the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2005 and their current status under SARA is Schedule 1, Endangered. In Canada, they are also protected by Marine Mammal Regulations under the Fisheries Act. This number is exacerbated by the fact that there are only 70 breeding females remaining in the population. This means that they are at an extremely high risk of becoming extinct.
