Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

Humpback Whale

“ Most whale photos you see show whales in this beautiful blue water - it's almost like space. ”

– Brian Skerry

Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Clade: Synapsida

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Infraorder: Cetacea

Family: Balaenopteridae

Genius: Megaptera

Species: Megaptera novaeangliae

Descendant: Balaenoptera physalus

Named by: Georg Heinrich Borowski (26 July, 1746 – 26 July, 1801)

Year Published: 1781

Lifespan: 80 to 90+ years

Size: 50 feet (16 m) in length, and weights of 40 tons (36 metric tonnes)

Type: 

Title: 

Pantheon: Terran/Gaian

Time Period: Miocene - Holocene (7.2–2023) mya

Alignment: Docile

Threat Level: ★★

Diet: Carnivorous (Filter Feeder)

Elements: Water, sound

Inflicts: Muted, waterblight, soundblight

Weaknesses: Fire, nature, electric, light, dark

Casualties: n/a

Based On: itself

Conservation Status: 

Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. It is one of the larger rorqual species, with adults ranging in length from 12–16 m (39–52 ft) and weighing around 25–30 t (28–33 short tons). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song lasting 10 to 20 minutes, which they repeat for hours at a time.

Etymology

Humpback whales are named, predictably, after an obvious hump in front of their small dorsal fin.

Physical Appearance

Humpback whales are named, predictably, after an obvious hump in front of their small dorsal fin. Compared to those of other whales and dolphins, this dorsal fin is small and stubby. This hump is emphasised when they raise and bend their backs in preparation for a dive.


Humpback whales grow to between 15 and 19 metres in length (about the size of a bus) and weigh approximately 40 tons. One of their most noticeable and distinctive features are their long and ungainly-looking pectoral fins (flippers). These can grow to nearly 5 metres long, making them relatively the longest flippers of any baleen whale.

Abilities

Their massive bodies dwarf our own and they are powerful animals. Yet, they never harm humans and there are many cases of whales intentionally showing their gentle side by avoiding contact that would inflict injury.


Humpback whales are primarily produce clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls as their three main sound types. The purpose of clicks is thought to be navigation and locating physical surroundings. When sound waves hit an object and then return to the whale, the whale can recognize the shape of the object.


They grunt, groan, shriek, and even make a low-toned guttural roar. The sounds humpback whales make are called songs. These often include repeated noises and rhythms and can last for a few minutes in some cases and hours in other situations.

Ecology

Humans or other races hunted humpback whales commercially for oil, meat, and baleen from the 17th to early 20th centuries. Humpback whales are still hunted in Greenland and by the Bequians of St Vincent and The Grenadines, for subsistence purposes, but only 1-2 per year are caught.


There tends to be strong, maternally directed fidelity to feeding and breeding grounds, but with some interchange between grounds, especially of males but also of females. While whales wintering in the Caribbean region have been matched photographically or genetically with whales in each of the summer feeding grounds, whales from the smaller Cape Verde Islands wintering group have to date been matched only with the northeastern feeding grounds. Individuals from the Cape Verdes have also been observed in spring in the Azores, where they appear to stop over to feed while on their way north.


The Humpback Whales that occur in the austral winter north of the equator along the African coast from Gabon to Guinea are known or presumed to be Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales.

Behavior

Humpback whales are by nature mostly gentle and non-aggressive animals, so it is very unlikely for them to do any harm to a human. They are however very large and curious and will sometimes approach boats.

Distribution and Habitat

Humpback whales can be found in every ocean in the world, but are most concentrated in a band running from the Antarctic ice edge to 81° N latitude. Where they can be commonly fund also depends on the temperature and the time of year. In the summer many spend their time in high-latitude feeding areas such as the Gulf of Alaska or the Gulf of Maine, then in the winter they can be found in the warmer waters near to the equator.


The Humpback Whale is a cosmopolitan species found in all the major ocean basins, and all but one of the subpopulations (that of the Arabian Sea) migrate between mating and calving grounds in tropical waters, usually near continental coastlines or island groups and productive colder-water feeding areas in temperate and high latitudes.


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