External Features in Southern Right Whales 'Eubalaena australis' and Their Use in Identifying Individuals

摘要

Individual southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) can be recognized on the basis of several external features, the most important of which is the pattern of callosities (raised and thickened patches of skin) on the hand. An analysis of these external features has been made primarily from 16,000 aerial and close-up photographs taken off Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, from 1971 through 1976.