There are two species of whales known as "right whales." The Northern Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis, is found in the northern hemisphere and uses coastal Georgia as a calving ground. It is Georgia's state marine mammal and the most endangered of the large whales in the world. The Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis, is found in the southern hemisphere. Right whales are mysticetes, or baleen whales. Other mysticetes include humpback, gray and bowhead whales.

Right whales received their name from whalers who began calling them "right whales" because they were the right whales to kill -- easy to harpoon and yielding large amounts of valuable oil for fuel and soap as well as baleen for umbrellas and corsets. Measuring 45- to 55-feet-long, adults can weigh more than 100 tons!

Northern Right Whales are now the rarest of all the great whales. The North Atlantic population is estimated to be around 350 individuals, and probably fewer than 50 individuals inhabit the North Pacific. Right whales were listed as endangered in 1970 and are protected by disturbance and injury by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and the Georgia Endangered Wildlife Act of 1973.