Chart 3 -- Northern Pacific Right Whale Range Distribution. Marine Scientists consider the Northern Pacific Right Whale the most rare mammal in the world. It represents a separate subspecies from the Atlantic Right Whale, which we understand the Navy has elected to avoid on the eastern U.S. seaboard. The three most recent sightings of the Northern Pacific Right Whale south of Alaska have occurred in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, two of which occurred in the last four years. The entire region is considered to be within the Right Whales' range. Any disturbance to this extremely rare whale could be disastrous. Right Whales within the MBNMS range throughout the Sanctuary boundaries from October through March as depicted by the orange dots.