Southern right whale  (Eubalaena australis)

Baleen: In some whales, the comb-like fibrous plates hanging from the upper jaw that are used to sieve food from sea water. These are often referred to as whalebone.
Copepod: Large and diverse group of minute marine and freshwater crustaceans belonging to the subclass Copepoda. They usually have an elongated body and a forked tail.
Crustacea: Diverse group of arthropods (a phylum of animals with jointed limbs and a hard chitinous exoskeleton) characterised by the possession of two pairs of antennae, one pair of mandibles (parts of the mouthparts used for handling and processing food) and two pairs of maxillae (appendages used in eating, which are located behind the mandibles). Includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, slaters, woodlice and barnacles.
Dorsal fin: The unpaired fin found on the back of the body of fish, or the raised structure on the back of most cetaceans.
Gestation: The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth.
Larval: Of the stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
Parasite: An organism that derives its food from, and lives in or on, another living organism at the host's expense.
Plankton: Aquatic organisms that drift with water movements; may be either phytoplankton (plants), or zooplankton (animals).

1. IUCN Red List (June, 2009)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
   
2. Department of the Environment and Heritage: Australian Government (June, 2008)
   http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=40
   
3. CITES (November, 2004)
   http://www.cites.org
   
4. CMS (November, 2004)
   http://www.cms.int/species/index.htm
   
5. Marine Themes (November, 2004)
   http://www.marinethemes.com/southright.html
   
6. WWF (June, 2008)
   http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/our_solutions/policy/iwc/index.cfm
   
7. Kenney, R.D. (2002) North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Right Whales. In: Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. Eds. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press, London.