Anatomy
--- the right whales
are baleen whales with bow-shaped lower jaw and a head that is up to
one-quarter of the body length
--- the head is hairier than most whales; up to 300 hairs are found on the tip of the
lower jaw and
100 are on the upper jaw
--- there are also callosities (a series of horny growths) behind the blowhole, on the
chin, above
the eyes, on the lower lip, and on the rostrum
(the beak-like upper jaw)
--- right whales are similar to bowhead whales, but smaller
--- right whales are rich in blubber and have 2 blowholes
--- the eyes are very small and lips are large
--- they were named by whalers who considered them the "right" whales to hunt,
since they were
rich in blubber, they were easy to catch (they are
relatively slow swimmers) and they floated
after being killed