RIGHT WHALE (Eubalaena glacialis) — The right whale was the first to be hunted both in Europe and America. It inhabited the temperate waters, passing the population centers of Europe and America on it's annual migration. It was slow moving and floated after being killed, thus its name, the "right" whale to kill. They grow to a maximum of about 60 feet and weigh up to100 tons.
The right whales are the most dangerous and pugnacious of the baleen whales. In the North Atlantic, the right whale migrates seasonally from the waters off Florida and Georgia in the winter moves up the coast to the waters off New England in the spring and early summer and heads in late summer and fall to the waters off southern Canada.
BOWHEAD WHALE (Balaena mysticetus) — The Bowhead whale was one of the most prized whales, both for the quantity and quality of its blubber and bone. It grows to a length of about 60 feet and a weight of 100 tons or more. The bowhead can stay submerged for an hour at a time, the longest of any baleen whale. His head is one third of his body and contains the largest number (600) and longest (10-14 feet)of baleen plates.
The blubber is the thickest of any whale (20 - 28 inches thick), probably an adaptation to the icy Arctic waters in which they lived. An average bowhead yielded 100 barrels of whitish oil and (tk) tons of baleen. The largest whales yielded 375 barrels of oil and (tk) tons of baleen.
GRAY WHALE (Eschrichitus robustus) — The gray whale migrates farther than any other species, about 1,200 miles, wintering in the lagoons of Baja California and summering in (tk). It is smaller than some of the other baleen whales and weighs from 25 to 30 tons and is 46 to 48 feet long. The gray whale averages 25to 30 barrels of yellowish or reddish oil per whale. In the old days, they had a reputation as vicious fighters, and whalemen called them "devil fish." Their baleen was not commercially valuable because it was short and brittle.
