North Pacific right whale

Description

E.japonica is a very large,thickset baleen whale.It very closely resembles the North Atlantic right whale (E.glacialis) the southern right whale (E.australis),so much so they were long thought to be just one species.Indeed,without knowing which ocean an individual came from,the physical similarities are so extensive that individuals can only be identified to species by genetic analysis.Relative to the other right whale species,E.japonica may be slightly larger.Like other baleen whales,female North Pacific right whales are larger than males.Also,North Pacific brindle-colored individuals are less common than they are among southern right whales.