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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This radio device is used to track North Atlantic right whales. Suction cups hold the device to a whale's back, where it records data such as depth, water, temperature, and underwater sounds. Read more about right whales and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Ocean Portal's 'A...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A white scar on Phoenix’s lip (at right) was caused by her entanglement with a fishing line. Learn more about the life of Phoenix, an actual North Atlantic right whale, in the Tale of a whale photo essay.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Phoenix was photographed swimming off the coast of Canada in the Bay of Fundy in August 2007. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Phoenix’s mother, Stumpy (#1004), was killed in a collision with a ship near Virginia in February 2004. She was pregnant with her sixth known calf. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a whale featured story.
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Jan 14 2011 - 11:50am
When a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale becomes entangled in fishing gear, members of a response team from the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network spring into action. In the past 25 years, dozens of whales have been freed from life-threatening entanglements. Explore other...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This close-up photo of a right whale's head shows dozens of hitchhikers—tiny crustaceans known as whale lice, or cyamid amphipods. They live on the rough patches of skin (known as callosities) on North Atlantic right whales, eating algae that settles there and only causing minor skin damage....
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This illustration shows how fishing lines attached to traps and buoys on the ocean floor present a potentially deadly hazard to North Atlantic right whales.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
A North Atlantic right whale with a deep wound caused by entanglement in fishing gear floats at the surface in the Bay of Fundy on August 1, 1999. Crew members on the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Song of the Whale research vessel provided support and assistance in efforts to disentangle...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Phoenix swims in George’s Bank, off the coast of New England, on March 13, 2009. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Two North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) swim at the surface of the water. Learn more about this species in the North Atlantic Right Whale section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A team from the Center for Coastal Studies works to free a one-year-old right whale from the fishing ropes wrapped and knotted around its body and flippers. The whale is Kingfisher, #3346 in the North American Right Whale Catalog.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A view of the injured fluke belonging to Phoenix’s mother, Stumpy. It is not known what caused this injury. It possibly could have been an entanglement. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
An early scale model of North Atlantic right whale Phoenix indicates the location of scars on her tail from entanglements with fishing gear. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
Whale baleen, the stiff bristly mouthparts that sieve small prey from the water, was strong yet flexible, and was used to provide structure in many human products, including umbrellas, corsets, and whips. Right whales were easy, lucrative prey. However, it's not used anymore: this species is...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This magnified photo provides a close-up look at copepods—tiny crustaceans that right whales feed on. There are many species of copepods that live throughout the water column, from floating at the surface to buried at the bottom of the sea. They are very small so right whales need to eat a lot of...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
An early scale model of North Atlantic right whale Phoenix that was used to develop a life size model for the Smithsonian shows the location of scars on her mouth from entanglements with fishing gear. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Dec 8 2009 - 11:51am
For being so big, right whales eat very small food, which they catch using baleen. Baleen is the series of fringed plates hanging in right whales' mouths that are used to strain seawater for food. Until the early 1900's, right whales were heavily hunted primarily for their fatty blubber, which...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Phoenix is seen skim feeding off the coast of Maine in August 2004. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A life-size, meticulously detailed model of the North Atlantic right whale Phoenix hangs in the Smithsonian’s Sant Ocean Hall in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC. More about Phoenix can be found in the Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Whalers harpoon a right whale in this 1856 Currier & Ives print.
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Dec 6 2009 - 10:31pm
Stretching up to 16.8 meters (55 feet) long and weighing up to 62 tons (70 tons), the North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s largest animals—and one of the most endangered whales. Scientists estimate that between 300-400 individuals remain. Why so few? For generations the right whale was...
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Aug 21 2012 - 8:51am
This early whale was well suited to life at sea. But it also lived on land. An ancestor of the right whale, Maiacetus lived 49-40 million years ago. It had flipper-like limbs and webbed feet, like modern seals. But it also had ankle bones - clues that although Maiacetus swam, its...
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Sep 30 2009 - 2:03pm
Meet Phoenix—One of about 450 remaining North Atlantic Right Whales
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
New England Aquarium researchers Dr. Moira Brown and Yan Guilbault conducting aerial surveys for North Atlantic right whales over the Roseway Basin, Canada. More about right whales can be found in the Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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