Like other right whales, the Southern Right Whale is
readily distinguished from other whales by the callosities
on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long
arching mouth that begins above the eye. The body of the whale
is very dark grey or black, occasionally with some white patches
on the belly. The right whale's callosities appear white,
not due to skin pigmentation, but to large colonies of cyamids or whale lice.

The Southern Right Whale is almost indistinguishable from
the closely related North Atlantic and the North Pacific Right
Whales, with only some minor skull differences. It may have fewer
callosities on its head and more on its lower lips than the
northern species

Facts