Less than 300 North Atlantic Right Whales exist today. Around the world, these endangered whales are known to consistently congregate in only 5 locations, namely the coasts of Georgia and Florida, Stellwagen Bank and Cape Cod Bay, the Great South Channel east of Cape Cod Bay, the Bay of Fundy, and the Scotian Shelf.
Whalers labeled these animals "right whales" because they considered them the "right" whales to hunt. They swam slowly in coastal waters, floated when dead, and yielded large amounts of oil and baleen. Right whales had been hunted to near extinction when hunting was finally banned in 1935. Although whaling is now illegal, right whales are still strongly affected by human activities. Approximately 30 percent of all mortalities result from collisions with large vessels or entanglement in fishing gear.
During the winter, pregnant females travel to the warm waters off the Georgia and Florida coasts - to the only known North Atlantic Right Whale calving area in the world - to give birth. From Spring to Fall the whales congregate in the north-western Atlantic feeding and courting.
On average, right whales reach sexual maturity at about 10 years of age, although some females have their first calf earlier than this. They give birth to a single calf after an estimated gestation period of 12 months, and there will probably be a gap of three to four years before they have another.
Like all whales, right whale mothers are very protective of their young and will often swim on their back, cradling their new calf on their belly, cuddling it with their huge flippers, just like a human mother.
Due to their coastal nature, right whales are often visible from the beach. Many citizens along Florida's eastern coast are involved in a right whale sighting network to help relay whale locations to mariners. When a right whale is sighted the information is reported to the Marine Resources Council sighting hotline (1-888-97-WHALE or 1-888-404-FWCC), where the information is then incorporated into the extensive communication network that informs mariners of right whale locations. Other species of whales are also found in Florida coastal waters, so it is important to be able to distinguish a right whale from other animals when reporting a sighting.
Right whales lack a dorsal fin; therefore, they have a large, flat back. They are dark gray or black and have "bumps" called callosities, on their head. The callosities appear white due to the presence of cyamids, or whale lice, that often congregate on the callosities. When right whales breathe they produce a V-shaped blow that is often as high as 15 feet and is visible from a great distance. Measuring up to 55 feet, an adult right whale can weigh 50 tons, and a newborn calf can measure 15 feet at birth and weigh 2,000 pounds.
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