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The Right Whale, Balaena Glacialis

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The Right Whale, Balaena Glacialis The Right Whale, Balaena glacialis HOWARD W. BRAHAM and DALE W. RICE Introduction subarctic waters (Fig. 1). Seasonally, cipally by European and Yankee it is a coastal species; however, impor­ whalers, but very little is known about The right whale, Ba/aena g/acia/is tant feeding aggregations are reported the impact of whaling on the number 1 Muller, 1776 , also known as the well out to sea, especially in the North and location of populations around black right whale, resembles the Pacific and South Atlantic. Like most the world. Nevertheless, several bowhead, B. mysticetus, in its robust other baleen whales, they spend the discrete breeding populations are build, narrow arched rostrum, and summer on high-latitude feeding hypothesized. The reproductive cycles lack of a dorsal fin, but is readily grounds and migrate to more of animals in the Northern and recognized by the callosities on its temperate waters during the winter Southern Hemispheres are 6 months rostrum and its scalloped lower lips. calving and mating seasons. out of phase, and right whales from The right whale occurs in all the The species was overexploited prin- these regions, therefore, do not inter­ world's oceans from temperate to breed. This divides the species into at The authors are with the National Marine least three reproductively isolated Mammal Laboratory, Northwest and Alaska populations, one each in the North I Some authors place the species glacialis in a Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Ser­ separate genus, Eubalaena Gray, 1864 (e.g., vice, NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Bin Pacific, the North Atlantic, and the Rep. Int. Whaling Comm., Spec. Issue 9). CI5700, Seattle, WA 98115. Southern Hemisphere; other stocks ~-----~ 20'~ ~~~b-c:c_-' -.-----\,----- ,..,...,~.L..'~~-----:>,.,!,.-~;--':j.L.._/-~__-~__ _ ~~~ --"- ,SO" . 150'W ).~~30W '20'W 90w I 'V Figure I. - Geographical distribution of the right whale. Simple hatching indicates the summerfeeding grounds. Stippling indicates distribution during autumn, winter, and spring; records are scarce dunng these seasons, and the distribution is to a large extent speculative. 38 Marine Fisheries Review within these regions are presumed. south Davis Strait, Canada (lWC, In whales were taken from off Cape These stocks may not interbreed, but press, a). Right whales apparently Farewell to Iceland (although this some overlap on their summer feeding spend the winter months (January­ may have been more a bowhead grounds. March) along the southeast coast of fishery); off North Cape, Norway; Although the right whale has been the United States from Florida to and off the British Isles. Important protected from whaling under inter­ North Carolina, most beyond sight of winter hunting grounds, and thus national agreement since 1931, there land. They then move into coastal presumed calving areas, were in the is little evidence of recovery in most waters of Massachusetts, Maine, Bay of Biscay of northwest Spain and areas, unlike other baleen whales so southeast Nova Scotia, and western France, and Cintra Bay (Jat. protected. This suggests that it might Labrador, traveling north from spring 23°N, long. 16° 15'W) off northwest be the most vulnerable to human in­ to early autumn (Winn and Price, In Africa. tervention of all great whales. For ex­ press). ample, their behavior of moving into Calving appears to occur in late North Pacific coastal habitats during the sensitive winter. On the basis of the size of Wintering areas for right whales in calving season probably makes them calves seen in the Bay of Fundy, the North Pacific are unknown. particularly vulnerable to nearshore Kraus and Prescott2 estimate that Migration patterns are also largely development. calving occurs from February to unknown, except that northward April. The peak numbers of right movements from temperate and sub­ Distribution and Migration whales seen in spring are off Cape arctic waters occur in spring, with the Right whales are found in Cod in April, but few are seen there in species occurring on summer feeding temperate waters above lat. 25° dur­ summer (Schevill, et al., In press). grounds generally between lat. 50 0 N ing the late autumn to early spring Most summer sightings are from and 63°N (Omura, 1958). Some early calving and mating season, and in southeast Canadian waters (Reeves et whaling records reported by Maury higher latitudes, usually above lat. aI., 1978); many likely occur well off­ (1852) and Townsend (1935), as well 40° during the spring to autumn shore during summer and autumn as Japanese sighting data during the feeding season. No overlap in based on 19th-century whaling 1960's and 1970's, support the distribution occurs between Northern records (lWC, In press, a). hypothesis that right whales are and Southern Hemisphere popula­ The southward autumn migration distributed all across the North tions in tropical waters; hence the (from about October through Pacific north of lat. 35°N, with im­ stocks are geographically isolated. December) presumably occurs farther portant concentrations in the Gulf of Right whales rarely occur in the polar offshore than in spring, and the Alaska, eastern Aleutian Islands­ pack ice. period of migration is shorter (Winn southcentral Bering Sea, Okhotsk and Price, In press). This is consistent Sea, and coastal Japan. Although the North Atlantic with reports of the movement of right evidence is certainly not definitive, the The International Whaling Com­ whales off South Africa (Best, 1981). IWC (In press, a) has tentatively mission (IWC, In press, a) currently However, definitive information on divided the North Pacific into two recognizes three stock areas for right the movements is generally lacking stock areas for purposes of reporting whales in the North Atlantic: One and the available information is based statistics. each on either side of the 30 0 W meri­ on scattered historical whaling and Right whales in the western North dian from the southern tip of sightings records reviewed by Schevill Pacific occur from waters off Japan Greenland (Cape Farewell) south, and et al. (In press), and Winn and Price north into the Okhotsk Sea and the third area within lat. 6O-62°N, (In press). western Bering Sea. There is no clear long. 33-35°W from Greenland to Current records of right whales in data to support the idea that more Iceland. Some question remains as to the eastern North Atlantic are far than one stock occurs in this area, or whether this third unit might be con­ fewer, and their seasonal movements whether there is a continuum into the fused with a bowhead whale stock are not known. Whaling records back eastern North Pacific, but right area, since the data are primarily from to the 16th century indicate that right whales were formerly abundant from the early whale fishery for bowheads. Japan and the east China Sea to the Current data support the Okhotsk Sea from late winter to sum­ hypothesis that right whales in the 'Kraus, S. D., and J. H. Prescott. 1982. The mer (Klumov, 1962; Omura, 1958). North Atlantic right whale (Euba/aena g/acia/is) western North Atlantic principally oc­ in the Bay of Fundy, 1981, with notes on distri­ The likely calving/mating area was cur in coastal waters from Florida to bution, abundance, biology and south and west of Japan and in the behavior. Unpubl. manuscr., 105 p. New Labrador. A few sightings have been England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, east China Sea and Formosa Strait, made in the Gulf of Mexico (Moore MA 02110. (Prepared for the World Wildlife predominantly from December to and Clark, 1963) and Bermuda to the Fund, Washington, D.C., and the Northeast March (Omura, 1958). Right whales Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Ser­ south, and from early whaling records vice, NOAA, Woods Hole, Mass., under Con­ were taken off the Bonin Islands at they once occurred as far north as tract NA-81-FA-C-<XJ030.) lat. 27°N, long. 137°W (about 300 46(4),1984 39 A right whale surfacing showing the arched lower lip and the rough, horny callosities on the head. Photo by G. Joyce. miles (500 km) southeast of Japan) in Pacific. Although coastal whaling for whales move north in late autumn February (Rowntree et al., 1980). This the gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, along coastal routes and south to may be the southern extent of their and humpback whale, Megaptera pelagic feeding areas in spring. The distribution; the northern recent novaeangliae, was extensive along the movements of offshore groups of record (two animals) occurred in sum­ west coast of North America, only whales are also unknown, but based mer 1982 at about lat. 60048'N, long. about 45 records of right whales exist upon limited historical whaling 175° 18'W (Brueggeman 3 , U.S. below lat. 500N (Scarff, In press), records, they are likely similar to Department of the Interior4 ). lending support to the hypothesis that those of coastal animals: Seasonal The most important whaling right whales found on summer north-south movements. A survey of ground for right whales in the eastern grounds in the eastern North Pacific the current understanding of stock North Pacific was off Kodiak Island may either I) migrate from the identity is reviewed by the IWC (In in the Gulf of Alaska. Right whales western North Pacific or 2) winter in press, a). were also taken in the eastern Aleu­ pelagic waters of the east and central Right whales occur seasonally in tians Islands area and off the coast of North Pacific (Maury (1852) showed pelagic waters of the southwest Atlan­ Canada and southeast Alaska, prin­ right whales well out to sea above lat. tic Ocean along the southeast coast of cipally in summer. Evidence of large 35°N and east of long.
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