There are few enough North Atlantic right whales alive—about 450—that scientists track all of them individually. Lysiak’s whale was called 2301. She was born in 1993 and gave birth in 2002.

Baleen whales evolved bristly baleen plates instead of teeth, which filter or trap krill, plankton and small fish inside their mouths. The 14 baleen species include the rorqual family—slender, ...

Baleen is the hairy-looking stuff that hangs down from a whale's upper jaw to help it catch plankton, krill and other tasty creatures. Made of keratin, a protein that also comprises human ...

Right whales were named by whalers who identified them as the “right” whale to kill on a hunt. These leviathans had enormous value for their plentiful oil and baleen, which were used for ...

Right whales are baleen whales belonging to the family Balaenidae. Three right whale species are recognized in the genus Eubalaena, while the Bowhead Whale-also a right whale-is placed in its own ...

For whalers, Eubalaena australis was the "right" whale because of its prized baleen, or whalebone, that was made into buggy whips, hat brims and women's corsets.

All of this matters for more than just a single species of whale. North Atlantic right whales and other baleen whales are ecosystem engineers, feeding in deep water and then releasing nutrients ...

The pygmy right whale is an enigma in the whale world. Not only is it the smallest of the characteristically large filter-feeding baleen whales, but it's also rarely sighted and seldom studied ...

More solitary than toothed whales, baleen whales face predatory attacks from killer whales, especially mother and calf pairs.

Modern baleen whales include many of the world’s largest cetaceans, such as blue, ... “But right now, it anchors the modern baleen whale lineage to at least 27.5 million years. ...

Right whales and bowhead whales take the former approach, while blue, ... Baleen whales feed an estimated 80 to 150 days out of the year, so using these daily intake estimates, ...