hale are more nearly triangular, while those of the
humpback whale have a jagged irregular or rippled rear margin and are
sometimes variously white below.

Distribution

Like its more northern relative, the bowhead whale, the right whale was
once the object of a widespread and extensive whale fishery, which
reduced the species to critically low numbers.

Though the former range of right whales is not clearly known, the
species is thought to have been abundant from the Davis Straits south at
least to the Carolinas and Bermuda and to have occurred in winter to
Florida and perhaps into the Gulf of Mexico.

Currently, right whales are known from Iceland south to Florida. Animals
move north along the eastern Florida coast between early January and
late March. During this time the species has also been observed in the
Gulf of Mexico off southwestern Florida and Texas. Right whales pass the
coast of New England in fair numbers in spring and continue as far north
as at least Nova Scotia. Right whales are also found off Iceland, though
the migration routes to and from Iceland waters are not known. The
recent apparent increases in numbers at the northern and southern
coastal approaches in New England and Florida, respectively, lend
credibility to the hopeful contention that the species will again
recolonize its historical range.

Stranded Specimens

Stranded right whales can be easily identified by all the characters
discussed on p. 49 and summarized in Table 2.

[Illustration: Figure 47.--The V-shaped blow characteristic of right
whales. Note the two distinct spouts, bushy in appearance. (_Photo off
Cape Cod by W. A. Watkins._)]

[Illustration: Figure 48.--A right whale off the northeastern Florida
coast. Note the robust body, the smooth back, completely lacking a
dorsal fin, and the narrow rostrum, bearing the characteristic yellowish
callosities. Right whales, primarily mothers with calves, show up on the
Florida coast in the early spring on their slow annual migration to the
north. (_Photo by N. Fain, courtesy of Marineland of Florida._)]

[Illustration: Figure 49.--Closeup views of the heads of right whales
off northeastern Florida (top left and right) and off Cape Cod, Mass.
(bottom left) clearly showing the narrow upper jaw, the bonnet, and the
widely separated blowholes. In the photo on the bottom left note the
extremely long baleen plates, characteristic of bowhead and right
whales. (_Photos by N. Fain, co