Southern Right Whales Photo © Lee Dingain

Southern Right Whale Eubalaena australis

The Right Whale is so called because it was regarded as the 'right' whale to hunt by whalers, as it is a large, slow moving animal, which floats when it is dead.

The Southern Right Whale has a rotund body with a large head which makes up one-third of its total body length; it has short wide flippers. Unusual for a baleen whale the Southern Right does not have a dorsal fin or a grooved throat.

Populations of this whale plummeted as a result od servere over-exploitation for over 300 years (between 1600s to the 1930s). Since it was given international protection in 1935, populations have rebuilt but there are still only thought to be between 3-4 thousand individuals surviving today.

The Southern Right Whale has been classified as lower risk by the IUCN (See IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for more information on the classification of the Southern Right Whale).

Southern Rigth Whale Photo © Lee Dingain

Help Protect the Southern Right Whale and Other Wildlife in Patagonia

The World Land Trust project on the Ranch of Hopes Wildlife Refuge in Patagonia safe-guards the coastal steppes and surrounding coastline, which is an ideal habitat for the Southern Right Whale. Please help protect this area by supporting the Patagonia Restoration Fund.

More Information about Southern Right Whales and Their Habitat

• Read more about Patagonia
• Find more information on the Southern Right Whale on ARKive: Images of life on Earth