Southern Right Whale
These stately creatures are extremely intelligent, graceful and majestic. For eons they have travelled the seas singing their whale songs and danced to the beat of the waves. Mothers form close relationships with their young, who start suckling from birth until about one year of age. As mammals, they are born with a fine sprinkling of hair which through the years mostly disappear.
Whaling started in Norway, some 5000 years ago, with the Southern Right Whales making easy targets by ruthless hunters. These beautiful animals are slow swimmers and float when killed, thus making them the “Right Whale” to hunt. Even though commercial whaling has been banned for more than 20 years, people continue to fire harpoons into these gentle creatures, causing many species to be endangered. The Southern Right Whale is conservation dependent with about 3000 in the sea to date.
Article written by www.overberg.co.za