North Pacific Right Whale
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2008-07-07T04:47:43Z
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{{Taxobox
| name = North Pacific Right Whale
| image = Eubalaena japonica drawing.jpg
| image_width = 300px
| status = EN
| status_system = iucn2.3
| status_ref = <ref>[http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/41711/all Eubalaena japonica], IUCN Red List.</ref>
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Cetacea]]
| subordo = [[Mysticeti]]
| familia = [[Balaenidae]]
| genus = ''[[Eubalaena]]''
| species = '''''E. japonica'''''
| species_authority = ([[Bernard Germain Étienne comte de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède|Lacépède]], 1818)
| binomial = ''Eubalaena japonica''
| range_map = Eubalaena japonica range map.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption = Range map.
}}
The '''North Pacific Right Whale''' is a [[whale]] species belonging to the ''[[Eubalaena]]'' genus. Its scientific name is ''Eubalaena japonica''. Estimates of its population range from 100 to 300 individuals. Although the whales have been protected from [[whaling]] since 1935, illegal Soviet whaling in the 1950s and 60s depleted their numbers further. The [[World Conservation Union]] has expressed concern that its numbers are now too low for recovery, and that [[extinction]] may be inevitable. Since the [[Baiji]] was declared [[functionally extinct]] in 2006, the Northern Pacific Right Whale is now the most endangered marine mammal on Earth. {{Fact|date=April 2008}}
==Hunting==
The Northern Pacific Right Whale is closely related to the other members of its genus, the Southern and North Atlantic Right whales (''Eubalaena australis'' and ''Eubalaena glacialis'' respectively). Right whales were hunted to near extinction by whalers because they were easy to approach, lived close to shore, floated when they died, and provided a large amount of oil, meat and whalebone (baleen).
The [[Japanese people|Japanese]] hunted North Pacific Right Whales since at least the late 16th century. In 1835 the first [[Europe]]an whaleship hunted right whales off the coast of [[British Columbia]]. This area, called the ''Northwest Ground'', peaked in the early to mid-1840s, but went into decline soon after, and was mostly abandoned for grounds discovered in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] and [[Bering Strait]] region. North Pacific Right Whales continued to be hunted by open-boat whalers into the early 20th century, and were also occasionally taken by modern whalers working out of whaling stations in [[Japan]], [[Alaska]], British Columbia, and [[California]]. Although they have been protected since 1937,<ref> M. Carwardine: "Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises", pages 44-47. Dorling Kindersley, 2002.</ref> Soviet whalers illegally caught several hundred in the 1960s.
==Behavior==
Right Whales are slow swimmers, yet acrobatic. They occasionally wave flippers above the surface of the water, breach, and flipper-slap. They are known to be playful and inquisitive. <ref> M. Carwardine: "Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises", pages 44-47. Dorling Kindersley, 2002.</ref>
==Appearance==
Right whales have large heads covered in grayish callosities. They are blue in color except for irregular white patches on their bellies. They have a very arched mouth line and no dorsal fin. The chin is darker in color than the rest of the body. Their pectoral fins are large and spatulate. <ref> M. Carwardine: "Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises", pages 44-47. Dorling Kindersley, 2002.</ref>
==External links==
*[http://www.wdcs.org:"Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society"]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Cetacea|M.}}
[[Category:Baleen whales]]
[[Category:Mammals of Canada]]
[[Category:Mammals of the United States]]
[[Category:Mammals of North America]]
[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
{{mammal-stub}}
[[ar:حوت شمال الهادي الصائب]]
[[zh-min-nan:Thài-pêng-iûⁿ Pak Chiàⁿ Hái-ang]]
[[de:Pazifischer Nordkaper]]
[[es:Eubalaena japonica]]
[[fr:Baleine franche du Pacifique Nord]]
[[it:Eubalaena japonica]]
[[lt:Eubalaena japonica]]
[[ja:セミクジラ]]
[[no:Stillehavskaper]]
[[pt:Baleia-franca-do-pacífico]]
[[sv:Stillahavsnordkapare]]
[[zh:北太平洋露脊鯨]]