Southern Right Whale
The Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is a large mammal member of the Balaenidae family of the suborder Mysticeti, order Cetacea that include whales and dolphins. It also groups whales with baleen plates whose main function is alimentary. It has a chubby body, black or dark grey, with irregular white patches on the underside.
Another characteristic is the fact that it has wide and short flippers but no dorsal fin and no throat grooves.

The Southern Right Whale may reach lengths of 15 metres and weights of 60 tons. Its round head is up to one third of the body volume. It has two nasal holes and its blow—the stream of air and water exhaled from the blowhole—is V-shaped and reaches about 4 m (about 16 ft) high. The southern right whale can be found in the Southern Hemisphere, between latitudes 20° and 64°. In reproductive seasons (autumn and spring), they migrate to the coasts of South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

When this period ends they travel to feeding areas, which, in the case of the group living in Peninsula Valdes, is the area off the coast of South Georgia Island.
A Southern Right Whale’s relevant feature is the fact that its head is covered with callosities. Every whale has a distinctive set of callosities that does not vary throughout the years, which allows their individualisation. Female right whales begin breeding at 7 or 9 years old and their calfs reach lengths of 5,5 metres.

The large majority of them are watched in Peninsula Valdes only when they bear, which occurs once every three years from June to October. Pregnancies last a year. During that period, Valdes becomes a large nursery and new-borns spend the first three months there. Their mating rituals are a spectacular event and they occur in colonies of 2 to 10 individuals, where males try to intimidate a rival to attract a mate.

How do whales feed?
The biggest animal that ever existed spends most of its life without feeding itself. It’s only in summer that it strains large quantities of small organisms from the water. The Right Whale is a Mysticeti member of the Balaenidae family that are filter feeders. At the sides of the mouth right whales have some 225 baleen plates that can be up to 2,50 m.

The outer edge of each plate is smooth, while the inner part is uneven and made of keratin, which allows filtration. Keratin is a resistant protein that makes up most of the material in the cells forming hair, nails and horns. Because of keratin’s molecular composition, baleen plates are, at the same time, strong and flexible.

Right Whales “comb” the sea to eat: they swim slowly swallowing large mouthfuls of water. Their baleen plates filter the water while “capturing” krill, some species of copepods and invertebrate and vertebrate larvae. When a right whale is eating it swims in zigzags with its mouth open. While right whales are in the Patagonia, adults feed only occasionally. They survive due to the reserve of fat they accumulate.

The Southern Right Whale has been declared Natural Monument (Law 23,094) and the current population, in the sub-Antarctic and temperate seas of the Southern Hemisphere, does not exceed 7,000. The colony living in Peninsula Valdés is one of the largest and is composed of 2,500 whales. Every year, between the months of May and December, 600 right whales meet in Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José.

Though the population has a growth rate of 7,1% it is absolutely necessary to protect them. Thousands of whales were killed by the whale industry. These animals are protected against whaling, but it is necessary to be on the alert: there are many potential dangers threatening whales that are as lethal as a harpoon.

INFORMACION SUMINISTRADA POR EL INSTITUTO DE CONSERVACION DE BALLENAS (I.C.B) Presidente : Royer Payne