Right Whales


Right Whales

 

(Balaenidae), a family of mammals of the order Cetácea. Length, 5-21 m. The belly is smooth without folds. The neck vertebrae are fused. The plates of the whalebone are narrow, long, and elastic. There are three genera, each with one species: the dwarf whale (temperate and cold waters of the southern hemisphere), the bowhead whale (northern Arctic Ocean), and the southern whale (cold and temperate seas of both hemispheres). They are few in number. Hunting of right whales has been forbidden by international convention since 1946.

REFERENCE

Tomilin, A. G. Kitoobraznye. Moscow, 1957. (Zveri SSSR i prile-zhashchikh stran, vol. 9.)