Historic Range and Today's Spatial

Before 1840, which marked the beginning of the decline of the North Pacific Right Whale, right whales were present in almost all of the world's temperate and sub polar oceans. These oceans include those highlighted in the green and blue in the first image below. Please note that there are other types of right whales, such as the North Atlantic Right Whale. North Atlantic Right Whales would have historically occupied the temperate and sub polar waters in the North Atlantic Ocean, while North Pacific Right Whales would have been found in the Pacific. The historic and present day migration patters are unknown; however, scientists infer that these "whales spend the summer in far northern feeding grounds and migrate south to warmer waters, such as Southern California, during the winter" (NOAA). Today, the habitat has shrunk dramatically. Most are seen in the central North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, which is situated between Alaska and the Russian Far East and Kamchatka Peninsula (see second image); however, they have also been seen near Baja, California and Hawaii as well as in the northern parts of the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.

Oceanic Climates


Location of Bering Sea

Today's Spatial Scale