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A white scar on Phoenix’s lip (at right) was caused by her entanglement with a fishing line.
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Lip Scar Caused By Fishing Gear

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Phoenix’s entanglement badly injured her right lip, leaving a distinctive scar from that ordeal.
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Beware of Fishing Gear

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A close up view of Phoenix and the rough patches of skin known as callosities that are found on all North Atlantic right whales.
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Phoenix’s Callosities

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The rough patches of skin known as callosities occur in unique patterns on all North Atlantic right whales and help researchers identify and track individual whales. This whale is named Phoenix.
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Close Up of Phoenix’s Callosities

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Close-up of a 17th century painting shows how whales were brought ashore for processing and their blubber rendered into marketable oil.
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Basque Whalers

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A drawing of Phoenix from the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog documents her callosity pattern and other identifying marks.
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Who’s That Whale?

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The fringed baleen plates are easy to observe as this North Atlantic right whale skims the water’s surface while it feeds.
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Baleen in Action

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Phoenix swims in George’s Bank, off the coast of New England, on March 13, 2009.
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Phoenix in George's Bank

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This photograph was snapped as Phoenix swam in the Gulf of Maine in July 2008.
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Phoenix near Maine

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In the 19th century, many women wore tight corsets that were stiffened with stays made from baleen.
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Whale Products in Fashion

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North Atlantic right whales were long hunted for their baleen—the fringed plates hanging in their mouths that they use to strain the seawater for food. Baleen was used in a number of consumer products, such as corsets.
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Whale Baleen from a Dead Whale

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Yankee Whalers: An 1856 Currier & Ives print shows whalers harpooning a right whale.
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The “Right” Whale to Hunt

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