SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE
The thrill of seeing southern right whales steaming through the ocean during their seasonal migration never fails to impress. They are a captivating sight off the Australian coast from about mid-May to mid-November, sometimes with calves in tow.
Southern right whales are medium to large baleen whales, distinguished by the white/grey growths on their head, known as callosities. The shape and arrangement of callosities – above the eyes and top lip, and along the lower jaw – is different for every whale and commonly used as a means of identification. Like all baleen whales, right whales have two blowholes to make breathing at the ocean surface easier. Their jaws are highly curved to allow some 250 baleen plates to hang down from either side of the top jaw like a giant curtain. The plates are up to two metres long and trap some two tonnes of krill and other small crustaceans a day. Made of keratin, the baleen plates continue to grow and fray throughout the whale's busy life.
What we're doing
See our conservation work on the southern right whale.
Studying southern right whales
WWF is collaborating with Murdoch University to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to gain new insights into whales. We're employing this technology to assess the body condition of southern right whales after their long migrations from the Southern Ocean to Australia. This will serve as a baseline for future work to monitor krill stocks.
Why it matters
Whalers named them as the ‘right’ whale to kill on a hunt due to their plentiful oil and baleen content. Populations in all three ocean systems, including the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica), appear to have been healthy for several million years before human exploitation drove them all to the brink of extinction. Nineteenth century whaling drastically reduced southern right whale numbers in Australian waters. An estimated 55,000 - 70,000 southern right whales lived in the Southern Hemisphere in the late 1700s. By the 1920s there may have been fewer than 300 individuals left. Numbers have recovered slightly, thanks to protection, but the Australian population of southern right whales still stands at only 3,500 individuals. Some populations remain at greater risk than others and we still know very little about their migratory and feeding habitat or their calving areas.
Species bio
Common Name
Southern right whale
Scientific Name
Eubalaena australis
Stats
Population: around 10,000 Length: 14-18 metres Weight: 80 tonnes Distribution: Southern hemisphere, seasonally occurring in coastal water of all Australian states with the exception of the Northern Territory.
Status
Listed as Endangered (under EPBC Act) and as Least concern (under IUCN Red List).
Did you know?
The southern right whale has one of the largest heads of all whale species, measuring up to one-third its body length.
Threats
Entanglement
Warming oceans, and changes to ocean processes may alter the distribution and supply of food (mostly krill and copepods) available to the southern right whale. Research suggests that warming waters may also hamper whale reproduction.
Vessel disturbance
The southern right whale appears to be the primary whale species involved in vessel collisions, which can lead to death or serious injury. A study of cetaceans in the Southern Hemisphere found that southern right whales accounted for half of allwhale deaths resulting from vessel collisions.
Underwater noise
Loud noises or long exposure to underwater noise can not only disrupt whale communication and cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, they can also deter whales from important habitats. In Australian waters this harmful noise can include seismic surveys, industrial activities (such as drilling, pile driving, blasting and dredging), defence activities, vessel noise and aircraft operating at low altitude.
What you can do to help
- Support WWF’s whale research. We’re working with researchers to learn more about the critical habitats of whales migrating yearly from the Southern Ocean to Australia and back, in order to protect their migratory pathways from human impacts.
- Responsible whale-watching. Whale-watching is one of the fastest growing nature-based tourism activities in the world. Choose a responsible whale-watching company that abides by local and national laws.
