North Atlantic Right Whales

Marine mammals are animals that depend upon the sea in order to survive and thrive. There are three categories of marine mammals. Cetaceans, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Pinnipeds, which includes seals, sea lions, and walruses. And serenians. This group includes the beloved sea cow, manatees. Did you know that sea otters, marine otters, and polar bears are also considered marine mammals? Making an official list of everything adorable in the sea. The United States Marine Mammal Protection Act legally protects marine mammals in U.S. waters from whaling and other human activities. One of the biggest and most fascinating marine mammals is the North Atlantic right whale. Adults normally live to be about 60 years old, grow up to 50 feet in length, and weigh around 140,000 pounds. To put that into perspective, a common yellow school bus is 40 feet long, and when empty, weighs 27,000 pounds. The North Atlantic right whale is longer and much heavier, but it won't drive you to school. Do you like to sit still? Neither do whales. The North Atlantic right whale is no exception. You can find them all along the east coast of North America. Much of the year is spent in northern Atlantic waters from Canada to New England. In the fall, females head south to the coasts of Georgia and northern Florida to give birth to their babies, then head back north in the spring. After being pregnant for a little over a year, females give birth to a single calf about 15 feet long. Have you ever wondered how a right whale eats? It's much different than how you eat. There's no plate or fork involved. Right whales use what's called a baleen filter system inside their mouths. The whale opens its gigantic jaws, takes in a humongous mouthful of water, then pushes the water back out through the baleen. Food remains and the water is released. North Atlantic right whales are referred to as skimmers because they skim and filter water, eating copepods, which are zooplankton, tiny animals that drift with ocean currents. Most are so tiny that you can't see them without the help of a microscope. Right whales generally feed from spring to fall and an average adult whale needs about a million calories a day for its body to function. That's about 3,000 pounds of copepods. Sounds like a lot until you consider that a million calories to a 140,000 pound animal equals 1,500 calories to a 150 pound person. North Atlantic right whales communicate with each other by emitting low frequency moans, groans, and burping noises. These unique calls can be used by scientists to identify certain whale species. Despite its bulky size, a right whale can also communicate by performing acrobatic acts like breaching and by slapping the water's surface with its tail or a pectoral flipper. North Atlantic right whales can dive to depths of up to 600 feet and stay underwater for about 20 minutes. How does that compare to humans? Well, without the help of vehicles, weights, or breathing equipment, the human dive record is 328 feet set by a man from New Zealand. His dive lasted four minutes and 10 seconds. Right whales win this contest for sure. Kids, don't try this at home. So how do you tell North Atlantic right whales apart? They have large patches of raised tissue on their heads called callosities, which scientists use to identify them. Similar to human fingerprints, no two callosities are alike. The whale's identifier can be seen from far away and appears white against the whale's dark skin. They form naturally and are present in newborn calves, but the pattern is not well established until 7 to 10 months later. Did you know that for centuries, people have hunted whales? The massive creatures provided oil, food, and parts for trinkets and jewelry, making them prime targets for hunters who, in turn, nearly wiped out an entire species. Hunters especially liked right whales, which were named that because they were the right whale to hunt for a couple of reasons. They swim close to shore so right whales can be spotted from land. Also, they're relatively slow compared to other whales. Whaling is what initially led to right whales becoming an endangered species. There are less than 600 North Atlantic right whales alive today. Luckily, whaling is now illegal in the United States thanks to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. While right whales aren't in danger of being hunted anymore, they remain endangered because they still face a number of threats. Animals as big as right whales don't move very quickly, which makes getting out of the way of oncoming ships a challenge. Another threat to right whales, and many animals that live in the ocean, is getting caught in fishing gear. It's pretty tough to entangle yourself from fishing line when you don't have any hands. Other threats to the right whale population include habitat degradation and contamination, ecosystem and climate change, as well as noise that we humans create through industrial activities. So what's being done to help the endangered right whale? Many things. First, researchers are working on ways to help ships find routes that won't put whales in danger. Shipping lanes are the routes that ships regularly use to get where they're going in the ocean. Unfortunately, many of these lanes are the same routes that migrating whales use, and when the two collide, it is often fatal to the whale. Research is being done to find out how certain shipping lanes can be shifted in order to ensure whale safety. NOAA has implemented certain laws to protect right whales from ships and boats. You must stay 500 yards away from right whales at all times. Ships must slow down to less than 10 knots in right whale critical habitat areas, and recreational boaters need to steer clear of whales. Another way humans are helping whales is by rescuing them from life-threatening entanglements. Since 1984, the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts has freed more than 200 whales and other marine animals caught in fishing gear. As you might imagine, catching an animal as big as a whale is quite a challenge. A technique was developed that uses large floats that are attached to the item trapping the animal. The floats keep the whale from being able to dive under the water and allows rescuers to safely cut it free from the entanglement. There are several ways you and your family can help save right whales. First, when you go to the beach, don't litter. Anything you leave behind on the beach has the potential to get into the ocean and hurt or even kill marine mammals. Take part in a beach cleanup and help keep trash out of the ocean. Second, if you're fishing, make sure you throw away your line in a monofilament recycling container where it will remain out of the water and can be safely collected and recycled by volunteers. Also, if you live in an area that is close to the Atlantic Ocean, you can keep an eye out for right whales off the coast and report any sightings from Florida to North Carolina to 877 Whale Help. Sightings from Virginia to Maine can be reported to 866-755-NOAA. Another way you can help whales is by purchasing a Protect Florida Whales specialty license plate. Funding from the sales of these plates supports a variety of whale research and rescue efforts associated with Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.