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population to flourish, however it seems, that even though the previous problems causing the
decreasing population have somewhat been corrected, new factors that add to their precarious
existence have developed.
"From the coast of Labrador to Delaware Bay, and south to the Gulf of Mexico,
Bermuda, and Florida. Also the eastern Atlantic in and around the Bay of Biscay (bordered by
France and Spain) down to the northwestern coast of Africa. At least 10,000 and perhaps 50,000
or more right whales used to live in the northern Atlantic Ocean."4We started to realize that the
species was going to become extinct about 60 years ago if nothing was done about it, and there
are many reasons why these numbers depleted over the years. It started many years ago when
humans did not have the technology they have today. By taking a look at the past we can
understand the start of the depleting population by looking at why the Right Whale was called
just that. It seems that it was named for the simple fact that it was the best whale to hunt. Over
the past 800 years this type of whale was so desired because it had such a large amount of
blubber to collect for oil, the blubber also was very buoyant, this made the whale float when it
was killed, and therefore made it easier to harvest. It was also easy to harvest because they are
slow swimmers, which made them easy to catch. The other part of the whale that it was hunted
for was its baleen. It is known that the baleen from one whale could pay for the expenses for an
entire trip. It was used for fans, clock springs, umbrella ribs, and hairbrushes.5As time has
passed, the human race has developed materials such as plastic to take the place of using baleen.
We also have more modern ways to make light than having to use whale oil.
The Northern Whale is a mammal and is also known as the North Atlantic Right Whale
and the black right whale. Its classification among the animal kingdom goes as follows:
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