page_title: Right whale
section_title: Courtship and reproduction
hierarchical_section_title: Right whale / Life history and ecology / Courtship and reproduction
context_page_description: Right whales or black whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus Eubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale, the North Pacific right whale and the Southern right whale. They are classified in the family Balaenidae with the bowhead whale. Right whales have rotund bodies with arching rostrums, V-shaped blowholes and dark gray or black skin. The most distinguishing feature of a right whale is the rough patches of skin on its head, which appear white due to parasitism by whale lice. Right whales can grow up to more than 18 m long with a highest-recorded length of 19.8 m. Right whales are very robust whales, weighing 100 short tons or more. The largest known right whales can attain 20.7 m in length and weigh up to 135,000 kg or 21.3 m with uncertainty, Their immense bulk makes right whales significantly heavier than other whales of similar or greater length such as the humpback, gray, sperm and even fin whales. In fact, right whales rank only behind the blue whale in sheer body mass. One explanation for their name is that whalers identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt due to the plentiful oil and baleen they could provide.
context_section_description: During the mating season, which can occur at any time in the North Atlantic, right whales gather into "surface-active groups" made up of as many as 20 males consorting a single female. The female has her belly to the surface while the males stroke her with their flippers or keep her underwater. The males do not compete as aggressively against each other as male humpbacks. The female may not become pregnant but she is still able to assess the condition of potential mates. The mean age of first parturition in North Atlantic right whales is estimated at between 7.5 and 9 years. Females breed every 3–5 years;  the most commonly seen calving intervals are 3 years and may vary from 2 up to 21 years due to multiple factors.
  Both reproduction and calving take place during the winter months. Calves are approximately 1 short ton (0.91 t; 0.89 long tons) in weight and 4–6 m (13–20 ft) in length at birth following a gestation period of 1 year. The right whale grows rapidly in its first year, typically doubling in length. Weaning occurs after eight months to one year and the growth rate in later years is not well understood—it may be highly dependent on whether a calf stays with its mother for a second year.
  Respective congregation areas in the same region may function as for different objectives for whales.
caption: A female North Atlantic right whale with her calf.
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