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WILDLIFE 1N DANGE

This is the second article in a series on endanger

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Q on information provided by the Canadian Wildlife Federat'on.

{TREQACK WHALE (Megaotera novaeangliae)

Tris famous ‘songster‘ 15 a short Stocky whale measuring up to 50 feet long and easily ecognized by its two long, white flipperS. Found in all oceans, the humpback often enters coastal areas and may be seen on the eastern Canadian coast, particularly on the Grand Banks oi Hewfoundland, during the summer. It is also infrequen‘ly seen off the British Columbia coast. Because of its habit of frequenting coastal waters the slow moving humpback was an e sy target for the early whalers. With the advent of moder. whaling techniques in the late

19th century, humpback numbers have dwindled and have never recovered. The world population is estimated at between 7,000 and 8,000, and they are currently protected by members of the International Whaling Commission.

RIGHT WHALE (Balaena glacialis)

A large, chunky, black whale lacking a dorsal fin, the right whale may measure up to 60 feet in length. It is characterized by a wart-like protuberance at the tip of its Snout, referred to as a callosity or 'bonnet'. Found in temperate and cool oceans, the right whale was the first target of the whalinc industry

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and probably the most severely exploited of all the large whales. In f ct, it is so named because Whalers referred to it as the ’right' whale to hunt. ihe right whale was seriously depleted throughout its w rld range, mostly during the 13th and 19th centuries. TLe t tal population is in the low thousands, and the speCies is now only rarely seen off Canada's coasts. Despite full protection by m mber

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.2 countries of the Internati nal Whaling Commission, the rate of recovery appears to be very Slow.

Humpback whale

Right whale