The right whales are the baleen whales belonging to the family Balaenidae. There are four species in two genera: Eubalaena (three species) and Balaena (one species, the Bowhead Whale). Right whales grow to 18 m (60 ft) long and weigh up to 100 metric tons. Their rotund bodies are mostly black, with distinctive white callosities (skin abrasions) on their heads. They are called "right whales" because whalers thought the whales were the "right" ones to catch because they float when killed. Populations were vastly reduced by intensive harvesting during the active years of the whaling industry. Nowadays, instead of hunting them, people often watch this acrobatic family for pleasure. The three right whale species live in geographically distinct locations. Around 300 Atlantic Northern Right Whales live in the North Atlantic, while the North Pacific has approximately 200 Pacific Northern Right Whales. Finally, about 7,500 Southern Right Whales are spread throughout the southern part of the southern hemisphere.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_whale
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1880: Tahiti became a French territory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahiti)
1922: France granted 100 hectares at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimy_Memorial)
1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, officially creating the U.S. Interstate Highway System. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System)
1995: During the STS-71 mission, the Space Shuttle Atlantis became the first space shuttle to dock with the Russian space station Mir. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-71)
1995: The Sampoong Department Store collapsed in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong_Department_Store_collapse)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry)
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