Species: Eubalaena japonica
North Pacific Right Whale
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Cetacea
Family
Balaenidae
Genus
Eubalaena
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
baleine noire du Pacifique Nord
Informal Taxonomy
<p>Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Whales and Dolphins</p>
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Cetacea - Balaenidae - Eubalaena - as a distinct species in the North Pacific (Gaines et al. 2005). A genetic study of cyamid populations (whale lice) found only on right whales suggests these amphipod crustaceans have been fully (or almost fully) isolated for several million years (Kaliszewska et al. 2005). This finding also strongly supports the view that North Atlantic, North Pacific, and southern populations of right whales should be considered distinct species.
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A large baleen whale
Habitat Type Description
Marine
Migration
<p>false - false - false</p>
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G1
Global Status Last Reviewed
2008-01-04
Global Status Last Changed
2006-02-10
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=SH&US.AK=S1&US.CA=SNR&US.HI=S1&US.OR=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
North Pacific (Baja California to Bering Sea, and off the northeastern Asian coast south in winter to the Yellow Sea). Existing data suggest that the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, the Okhotsk Sea, the Kuril Islands, and the coast of Kamchatka are the areas with the greatest likelihood of finding North Pacific right whales today (Clapham et al. 2004). See Goddard and Rugh (1998) and Tynan et al. (2001) for a review of recent records in the Bering Sea.