Southern+Right+Whales


 * Southern right whales are an almost un-mistakable group of whales that are identifiable because of their large callosities or raised tissue masses on their heads, with the location and size of these masses being different for every individual whale, kind of like a birth mark. Callosities are large callous deposits that are actually the color of the whale’s skin but becomes infested with what’s known as whale lice and so they appear white in color, causing many people to mistake them for barnacles. At first glance these whales look like their closely related cousins the North Atlantic and Pacific right whales. Outside of these large raised tissue masses the southern right whales have broad backs, dark skin, with a few spots or patches of white on their bellies. Southern right whales have two rows of dark baleen plates roughly about two hundred something plates that hang from their jaws, their tails are long, broad and smooth These whales have been known to get up around fifty nine feet in length weighing over 70 tons which is relatively small in comparison to whales in the Northern hemisphere. The babies or calves at birth can be up to fifteen feet long.**


 * Southern right whales are one of three species of the baleen whales of the Balaenidae family classified as mammalia. These whales are rare due to the entire whale hunting that use to go on at a time when whales were hunted for their blubber. Southern Right Whales can be found throughout the southern regions they are migratory in nature so they travel as their food source travels. During the winter months these whales can be found in places like South Africa, Argentina, and Australia. While in these locations the southern right whale tends to stay close to the coast away from the open waters. These whales are described as being rather playful in nature and are friendly to boaters, kayakers, alike.**


 * Southern right whales breed and live in different habitats. Generally when breeding the Right Whales will do so in lower latitudes where the water is shallow and warmer, this makes for ideal conditions not only for breeding, but nursing as well. Given the laws that protect these whales there has been increase in numbers and their survival rates.**


 * Southern right whales being such large animals, one has to wonder how much they actually eat. Researchers have shown that these large whales are skimmers and that they take their prey out of the water before eating them along with all the zooplankton around near or on. Right whales eat things like krill and copepods. Southern right whales eat up to four percent of their body weight during the feeding season daily which allows for fat storage for the winter months. Most feed alone but have been seen feeding in groups within a V like formation.**
 * As mentioned earlier these whales had relatively small population numbers and area a rare species. This is due to the hunters who once hunted them for their blubber ships that collide with then and entanglements with fisherman and their equipment. Worldwide population for these whales are estimated around 60,000 which is relatively small, however with assistance from different conservation groups, researchers and volunteers efforts and laws prohibiting their hunting these whales, South Africa specifically has seen an increase in growth and survival by seven percent bringing the number of southern right whales in South Africa around currently 3,400 in number and growth only expected to increase.**