North Pacific right whale

How it lives

A stocky baleen whale with no dorsal fin, a very large head about a quarter of its body length, and rough patches of skin called callosities. NOAA says it lives at least 70 years. Where it breeds and calves is unknown.

Where it goes

The eastern group is seen in the southeastern Bering Sea in summer and autumn, and the western group feeds in the Sea of Okhotsk and around the Commander and Kuril Islands. No winter ground has been found, and scientists do not know where these whales migrate in winter, breed or give birth.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Endangered worldwide (IUCN, assessed 2017); the northeast Pacific group is Critically Endangered. Fewer than 500 whales are thought to remain in the North Pacific, and fewer than 50 in the eastern group, with only about 28 in the Bering Sea (NOAA). The Marine Mammal Commission gives 31 to 50 for the eastern group, and Wikipedia gives over 300 for the western group. Before 1835 there may have been 20,000 to 30,000. It has been listed as Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act since 1970, and is on CITES and CMS Appendix I.