Right Whale Baleen

A right whale opens its mouth wide, revealing huge plates of baleen hanging from its upper jaw. There are between 200 and 270 baleen plates on each side of a right whale's upper jaw. They work like a giant sieve to catch the whale's food. Strong but flexible, baleen is made of the same substance as your fingernails - keratin.

Discover more about this species in A Tale of A Whale, a photo essay about a whale named Phoenix.

A right whale opens wide, revealing huge plates of baleen hanging from its upper jaw.
©Mason Weinrich, Whale Center of New England

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Comments

It would be helpful to offer

It would be helpful to offer this as a powerpoint too. When you click on the lower arrows that the larger image appears in the center frame.

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 9:36am.

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