RIGHT WHALE (B)
Eubalaena glacialis (Borowski 1781)
Other Common Names
Black right whale, Biscayan right whale, Biscay whale, Nordcaper right whale.
Description
These right whales reach a length of about 53 feet (16.2 m).
The body is rotund and completely lacking a dorsal fin or a dorsal ridge. The upper jaw is long, narrow, and highly arched. The lips are similarly highly arched. The top of the head has a series of bumps or callosities, the largest one of which is known as the "bonnet," on the upper surface in front of the blowholes. Yellowish-brown lice and, less frequently, barnacles grow on the callosities. The color and extent of the callosities varies from one individual to the next.
The two blowholes are widely separated, resulting in the projection of the blow upward as two distinct spouts. The body is dark on the back, sometimes black, more often brown or mottled, usually has a region of white on the chin and belly, and sometimes has numerous small grayish-white scars of unknown origin. The baleen plates are up to 7.2 feet (2.2 m) long, very narrow, and variable in color from dark brownish through dark gray to black in color. When the animals swim, mouth agape near the surface, the baleen sometimes appears pale yellowish gray in color.