The northern right whale belong to the Balaenidae family and their scientific name means the whale of the ice. Other common names that they are known by include, the black right whale, Biscanyan right whale and Slettbak. Unlike the rorquals whales do not have a dorsal fin and this is why the Norwegian name Slettbak came about, meaning smooth back. Out of all of the species of whale these are the most endangered, with their slow breeding and living in busy coastal shipping waters there are grave concerns for their future.

The northern right whale is a very rotund looking whale, it has a black body and does not have a dorsal fin. It has very broad flippers and huge tail and is the broadest specie of whale. It has a callosities (rough skin) in the same place as you would find human head hair and the pattern of this is unique on every whale but the function of them is not fully understood. The parasites that live on the callosities give either a yellow or a red colour and these can be used to recognize individual right whales.

An fully grown adult can measure up to 18m or 60ft, with the female of the species being 1-2m or 3-6ft longer than the male. The northern right whale has more weight per foot than any other species of whale with the largest right whale weighing approximately 40 to 80 tons.

The northern right whale will skim through patches of plankton with their mouths wide open and filter out the water through the 230 plates of baleen on each side of their mouth. They can consume 2-3 tons of the organisms each day and they occasionally eat barnacle larvae and euphausiids.

The northern right whale will reach sexual maturity between 6-12 years of age. The gestation period for a calf is one year and when the calf is born it measures approximately 4-5m or 15-16ft and will stay with its mother for one year. The female will produce a calf once every three or four years and will normally give birth in mid winter.

First grade oil from the blubber which is edible was used for the manufacturing of margarine, and also in the production of soft soap. Oil was also extracted from meat and bones after they were pressure cooked. Meat extract was also produced from the meat and was very edible similar to branded meat extract drinks. The liver was also processed to produce liver oil for medicinal purposes. The meat residue from the pressure cookers was rendered down to make cattle feed and fertilizers. The baleen plates from the mouth which in the olden days were used for stays for ladies corsets but in modern whaling the baleen plates were discarded.