North Atlantic right whale  (Eubalaena glacialis)

Range

Historically, the North Atlantic right whale was far more widespread than it is now, and was once common on both sides of the Atlantic (1), from Labrador, Greenland, Iceland and Norway south to Florida and north-western Africa (2). Today, this whale appears to be effectively extinct in the eastern North Atlantic (1), and it survives only in the western North Atlantic, from Florida to Nova Scotia (2).

View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Habitat

This marine mammal migrates between two vital habitats: feeding grounds and calving grounds (2). Its feeding grounds are in the north of its range, where a combination of factors such as temperature, ocean bottom topography and currents interact to aggregate zooplankton into dense concentrations (2). The North Atlantic right whale’s calving grounds are situated in warmer waters in the south of its range, in shallow coastal waters or bays (2).

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