http://gallery.pictopia.com/providerasset/1/pictopia_logo.pnghttp://gallery.pictopia.com/providerasset/1/pictopia_logo.pnghttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/2011-12-24T22:05:26Z2011-12-24T22:05:26ZBrian J. Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868077/

A diver has a close encounter with a southern right whale.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868077&size=128&m=1324793126.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868077&size=128&m=1324793126.01189054http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868077/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2011-12-24T22:05:26ZBrian J. Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868074/

A southern right whale hovers inches over the sandy seafloor.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868074&size=128&m=1324793126.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868074&size=128&m=1324793126.01189053http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868074/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2010-10-12T15:54:41ZBrian J. Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868073/

Pair of southern right whales in the Auckland Islands Marine Reserve.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868073&size=128&m=1286924081.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868073&size=128&m=1286924081.01189052http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868073/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2010-09-04T08:05:11ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868070/

The Auckland Islands Marine Reserve protects an area 300 miles south of New Zealand’s South Island, where these two robust southern rights are part of a recovering population thought to include more than 1,000 whales.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868070&size=128&m=1283612711.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868070&size=128&m=1283612711.01189051http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868070/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2010-05-06T16:37:49ZBrian J. Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868081/

A collision with a ship snapped a right whale's vertebrae.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868081&size=128&m=1273189069.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868081&size=128&m=1273189069.01189057http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868081/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2010-05-06T16:37:48ZBrian J. Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867121/

The carcass of a female right whale killed by a ship collision.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867121&size=128&m=1273189068.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867121&size=128&m=1273189068.01189047http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867121/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2010-01-31T10:59:00ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867130/

Scars on this adult in the Bay of Fundy likely resulted from entanglement in fishing gear that cut through the skin.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867130&size=128&m=1264964340.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867130&size=128&m=1264964340.01189048http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867130/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-12-04T11:59:03ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868067/

A female gets a playful bump from her new calf in warm shallows near Florida's Amelia Island.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868067&size=128&m=1228420743.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868067&size=128&m=1228420743.01189050http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868067/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-09-17T05:29:16ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868078/

Signature V-shaped plumes of spray shoot from a North Atlantic right whale in the Bay of Fundy.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868078&size=128&m=1221654556.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868078&size=128&m=1221654556.01189056http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868078/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-09-11T16:30:33ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867140/

There are 359 North Atlantic right whales old enough to be individually identified.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867140&size=128&m=1221175833.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867140&size=128&m=1221175833.01189049http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867140/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-09-11T16:30:33ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867115/

A calf's open jaws reveal a pink soft palate that releases excess body heat, and a hanging sieve of baleen that strains tiny prey from the sea.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867115&size=128&m=1221175833.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5867115&size=128&m=1221175833.01189046http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5867115/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-09-11T16:30:33ZBrian Skerry/National Geographic Image Collectionhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868083/

Trawling with open mouth along the surface of Cape Cod Bay, a North Atlantic right whale feeds on the move.

//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868083&size=128&m=1221175833.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868083&size=128&m=1221175833.01189058http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868083/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales2008-09-10T14:18:48Zhttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868068///pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868068&size=128&m=1221081528.0//pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=318&ptp_photo_id=natgeo:5868068&size=128&m=1221081528.01189050.jpghttp://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/56752/photo/5868068/In the Magazine/Past Issues/October 2008/Right Whales