National Marine Conservation Areas of Canada

Canada’s National Marine Conservation Areas System Plan

North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

Rarest of the world's large whales, the right whale gets its name from the fact that it floats when dead, thus the "right" whale to hunt. Most of the remaining population of the North Atlantic right whale is found in Canadian waters from July through October, particularly the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy. Though now protected, this species has been very slow to recover and studies suggest that one third of all mortality is due to human activities, mainly collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear.