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Humpback Whale - Megaptera novaeangliae
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Humpback Whale Statistics Maximum length:
18m (59ft), average 12.9 m (42ft) males, 13.7 m
(45ft) females. |
Humpback
whales are so called because of the habit of raising and bending
the back in preparation for a dive, accentuating the hump in
front of the dorsal fin. They have relatively the longest flippers
of any baleen whale which may be up to a third of the total body
length, these have a range of uses from feeding to social signaling.
These are probably the best known of the large whales as they often collect in groups along coasts where they feed and breed, drawing attention to themselves by their behavior. Breaching, lob tailing and flipper-slap are common and often occur several times in a row.
Humpbacks are slow swimmers and so allow tourist boats - and in the past, whalers - to get close. They can swim at
The skin is covered with a whole range of warts and bumps and there is a particularly rich fauna of barnacles that encrust the whale (there are whole groups of "whale barnacles" types that are found nowhere else but on whales).
The
bushy "blow" of a humpback whale from the double blowhole
is quite characteristic, even at a distance.
| Ecology and Behavior |
Like other baleen whales, the food of humpbacks is small plentifully abundant schooling fishes and large zooplankton. The precise diet is almost certainly different for different populations though has not been studied in any detail for the majority. In Antarctica, the diet is dominated by krill (like almost every other mammal in Antarctica). In other seas, the diet may include anchovies, mackerel, sand eels, herring, capelin, pollock and cod.
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Humpbacks have a wide range of feeding methods such as:
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Disabling fish by striking shoals of them with their flippers or flukes.
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Synchronized lunges at shoals of fish or invertebrates by a number of whales side by side. This disorients the prey and while they dash out of the way of one whale, they may swim directly into the path of another.
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Co-coordinated
feeding and herding of prey species including "bubble
netting". This is a particularly impressive technique
where one or two whales dive down below a shoal or swarm
of prey and then swim back slowly toward the surface in
a spiral. As they swim they slowly blow bubbles which arise
in a circle and drive the prey in a panic towards the centre
of the circle. The whale/s then thunder straight up through
the middle with their mouths open and get a more concentrated
mouthful of food.
The picture to the right is of bubbles blown by a humpback whale deep beneath the surface.
As well as cooperative behavior, competition has been seen between animals feeding together in large fish or plankton concentrations. The whales have been observed rushing to the surface together while pushing and shoving each other with mouths full and throats distended. Humpbacks feed mainly during the summer season in high latitudes in the Arctic or Antarctic and do not feed during the winter while on the breeding grounds.
 A humpback whale on the surface with a bubble net rising  A group of 15 humpback whales off Juneau, Alaska bubble netting at the point where they are taking great gulps of sea-water and prey once the net has arisen |
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Social
behavior - Humpback whales are usually seen alone
or with one other whale, they may form small groups
of 4 or 5 individuals, very rarely larger. These groups
are loose and unstable and are made and break up easily.
They used to be thought to be made up of family groups
or mating pairs, though this is now thought to be unlikely.
The only long-term grouping of any sort is between mother
and calf, though sometimes a male may accompany them
and become aggressive to any other male approaching,
probably a result of having mated with the female and
not wanting any other male to mate with the female (the
whales don't "know" this of course, it's
all instinctive). |
 Humpback Mother and calf  Humpback whale breaching  Humpback whale breaching  Humpback whales spy hopping |
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