The southern right whale, whose scientific name is Eubalaena australis, belongs to the order of mysticetes. These aquatic mammals are very special, since they have impressive characteristics. Therefore, we want to show what the southern right whale is like in this article on our site.
Do you know that whales, including the southern right whale, are mammals just like the lion or the elephant? Sure they're aquatic animals, but you'd be surprised how much they have in common with land mammals, including us humans. Are you curious to discover the southern right whale? You're in luck, here we tell you everything about it!
Characteristics of the southern right whale
The southern right whale is a large baleen whale. The average weight of an adult specimen is about 40 tons, although specimens weighing around 60 tons have been recorded.
Its skin is black with white spots on its belly. His head is extremely large, since it is a third of his body. On it are some calluses, protruding skin regions, which have a minimum thickness of 5 centimeters. These calluses are unique to each whale, so they are the equivalent of our fingerprints. Populations of cyamids, crustaceans popularly known as "whale lice", usually proliferate on them.
Another characteristic of the most representative southern right whale is the baleen or horny plates that they present inside their mouths. There are usually about 260 and they measure about 2.5 meters each. These baleen are essential for the feeding of the southern whale, as these animals obtain their sustenance by filtering large amounts of seawater thanks to the baleen and thus separating crustaceans such as krill, their basic food.
Size of the southern right whale
An adult southern right whale is an animal of spectacular size, the average being between 13 and 15 meters in length in the case of males and approximately 16 meters in females. There is, therefore, a marked sexual dimorphism, or what is the same, observable physical differences linked to the sex of the specimen.
As for the calves, these are also of considerable size, since a newborn southern right whale is usually around 3-5 meters in total length.
Feeding of the southern right whale
The southern right whale feeds mainly on krill, as we have mentioned in the previous section. However, it is not the only food it receives, since it also consumes zooplankton, which are small organisms that live in the sea or fresh water.
Now, if you wonder how the southern right whale eats, the answer is the same as the rest of the whales: filtering their food. When opening its mouth, the water that it is capable of catching enters it, as well as the animals that are there at that moment. The food that the whale needs is trapped in its baleen, while the extra matter is expelled through a hole. Find out more about what whales eat in this article: "What do whales eat?"
Habitat of the southern right whale
The southern right whale inhabits different regions between latitudes 20º and 60º throughout the South Atlantic Ocean, the South Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, as well as in the Antarctic Sea. Therefore, these whales only live in the southern hemisphere, being located in cold waters, specifically sub-Antarctic waters. It is common to see them near landmasses and islands.
Migration of the southern right whale
The southern right whale carries out two types of migrations On the one hand, there are those related to feeding and, on the other, the reproductive migrations. The routes followed by southern right whales in their migrations are not exactly known. However, it is known for certain that there are populations of southern right whales whose migratory destination for breeding and reproduction is the Valdés Peninsula, where they arrive in May or June and leave between October and December. Once the breeding is done, the trophic migration takes place, of which it is only known that the migration zones are included in the surroundings of the Antarctic convergence.
Reproduction of the southern right whale
Whales, including the southern right whale, are sexually reproducing mammalian animals The southern right whale migrates in late winter, about May or June, towards their usual breeding areas. This happens once every 3 years, because between the pregnancy, which lasts approximately 12 months, and the calf calf, the mother whales will be busy during that period.
A southern right whale is sexually mature when it reaches 5-6 years of age. The mothers are the ones in charge of raising their little ones, since the father ignores any task related to the upbringing. Calves grow rapidly, increasing in size by about 3.5 centimeters per day. This is thanks to the nutritious milk with which their mothers feed them, which they breastfeed for long periods until they are weaned after 12 months. From then on, the calves are called subadults, since they are not yet sexually mature and play with each other continuously.
Is the southern right whale in danger of extinction?
To end the information on the southern right whale, we talk about a sensitive issue that must be taken into special consideration: its possible extinction. The southern right whale has suffered strong harassment from whalers for centuries, because according to them it was an easy prey due to its enormous size, its slow movement and the fact that once it died it floated on the surface of the water, so it's easy to catch them. This caused the number of right whales to decline so drastically that they were close to extinction.
For this reason, hunting for the southern right whale was drastically prohibited throughout the world, thus progressively improving their situation. Currently, although threatened, southern right whale populations have been recovering. For this reason, the IUCN does not consider this species to be in danger of extinction.
