Right Whale 🐳🐋🐬

Right whales or black whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus Eubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale (E. glacialis), the North Pacific right whale (E. japonica) and the Southern right whale (E. australis). They are classified in the family Balaenidae with the bowhead whale. Right whales have rotund bodies with arching rostrums, V-shaped blowholes and dark gray or black skin. The most distinguishing feature of a right whale is the rough patches of skin on its head, which appear white due to parasitism by whale lice. Right whales can grow up to more than 18 m (59 ft) long with a highest-recorded length of 19.8 m (65 ft).[9] Right whales are very robust whales, weighing 100 short tons (91 t; 89 long tons) or more. The largest known right whales can attain 20.7 m (68 ft) in length and weigh up to 135,000 kg (298,000 lb).[10] Specimens measuring 21.3 m (70 ft) and weighing 150,000 kg (330,000 lb) are documented in whaling records but not scientifically confirmed.[11] Their immense bulk makes right whales significantly heavier than other whales of similar or greater length such as the humpback, gray, sperm and even fin whales. In fact, right whales rank only behind the blue whale in sheer body mass. One (apocryphal) explanation for their name is that whalers identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt due to the plentiful oil and baleen they could provide.[12]