Southern right whales have huge callosities (growths) on their heads which makes them easy to identify. Whale lice live on the callosities and this is what makes them appear white, pink, yellow or orange. Southern right whales have more callosities on their lower ‘lip’ and less on their head than northern right whales, and though there are other differences, the two species are almost identical. Southern right whales have broad backs with no fin, a large head with an arched mouth line and large, broad flippers. Their skin is black/brown and they have white patches on their bellies. Their baleen is up to 2,8 meter long and is dark brown , grey or black. There are usually 220 to 260 long narrow plates with fringes of bristles in each side of the upper jaw. Southern right whales have two blowholes and when they blow it is wide and V-shaped and up to 5 meter high. Adults can be between 11 and 18 meters long and weigh between 30 and 80 tonnes. They feed primarily on krill and other crustaceans.