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A group of fin whales off the Massachusetts coast shows the typical curved fins of this species. There is usually some variation in fin shape, allowing different individuals to be recognized. Fin whales sometimes cooperate when feeding, operating in small groups to drive fish into tight shoals. feet (9 meters). The baleen whales have no teeth; instead they have large comblike structures, called baleen, which hang down from the roof of the huge mouth to filter sea water and trap food. There are two blowholes on top of the head. The right whales are so-called because they were considered to be the “right” whales to hunt. They all feed in waters close to the shore and are slow swimmers, thus making them easy to follow in a small boat. Once harpooned and killed they floated, so they could easily be towed back to the shore, and then once on shore they provided a rich source of blubber, whale meat, and “whale bone,” or baleen. One of the earliest fisheries for right whales was based in the Bay of Biscay, and it so seriously reduced their numbers that the whalers were forced to travel to Greenland and Baffin Bay to hunt the bowhead, where the same thing happened, so this species too suffered a serious decline. Right whales are bulky, rounded whales with huge heads and mouths occupying about one-third of the body. The upper jaw is long and narrow,

Grey whales travel to warm waters to breed, but find their food in colder waters farther north. They favor shallow lagoons from which they can scoop mud from the bottom and filter their food, usually shrimp, worms, and shellfish.

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