Southern Right Whale
Eubalaena australis
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Cetacea
Family:
Balaenidae
IUCN Red List status:
Least Concern
Description
Protected by the following WLT projects:
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. 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.
Threats and Conservation
Populations of this whale plummeted as a result of 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.
Learn more
- See IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for more information on the classification of the Southern Right Whale.
- Photos: Coastal Steppe Project
