Here are just some of the cool facts about humpback whales. The humpback whale is considered to be the most active whale and is famous for its acrobatic moves. Given the name humpback because of the way they arch their back just before they dive, they are identified by their large flippers, big tail and hump-shaped back.
Watch them breaching, or jumping high out of the water witness their tail slap with full force into the ocean. The sound and spectacular sight is simply incredible and can be seen from a whale-watching cruise. Humpback whales have two blowholes and because they breathe air like we do, they need to come to the surface of the water to breathe. They can hold their breath for over half an hour, and you can often see a large spurt of water from their blowhole as they prepare to take a breath.
Amazingly, male humpback whales communicate by singing. Nevertheless, these animals are not the social species. Biologists maintain that humpback whales tend to hunt in groups in the summer season. They are not considered to be the monogamous animals. Do you know what do humpback whales eat? Being opportunistic nature, these whales predominantly feed on krill, fish, Atlantic Salmon, capelin, Atlantic herring, Atlantic mackerel, American Sand Lance, haddock, and Pollock.
Humpback whale facts about its diet demonstrate that these whales are also found to eat copepods. These whales consume 2 tons of krill each day. These whales mainly inhabits in the Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Waters. They are known to be migratory species in that they travel in summer season. Some of these whales also live in the Arabian Sea. Most of the individuals are also known to reside in Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Records of humpback and southern right whales demonstrating what were interpreted to be mating behaviors have been documented off the Mozambique and Brazilian coasts. Humpback whales appear in mixed groups with other species, such as the blue, fin, minke, gray and sperm whales. Interaction with gray, fin, and right whales have been observed. Teams of researchers observed a male humpback whale singing an unknown type of song and approaching a fin whale at Rarotonga in One individual was observed playing with a bottlenose dolphin in Hawaiian waters.
Recently, incidents of humpback whales protecting other species of animals such as seals and other whales from killer whales has been documented and filmed. Studies of such incidents indicate that the phenomenon is species-wide and global, with incidents being recorded at various locations across the world. In September in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands, two adult humpback whales were observed protecting snorkeler and whale biologist Nan Hauser from a 4.
This may be the first recorded incidence of humpback whales acting protective over a human. Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, but only males produce the long, loud, complex "song" for which the species is famous. Each song consists of several sounds in a low register, varying in amplitude and frequency and typically lasting from 10 to 20 minutes.
Individuals may sing continuously for more than 24 hours. Cetaceans have no vocal cords, instead, they produce sound via a larynx like structure found in the throat, the mechanism of which has not as of yet been clearly identified.
Whales do not have to exhale to produce sound. Whales within a large area sing a single song. All North Atlantic humpbacks sing the same song, while those of the North Pacific sing a different song. Each population's song changes slowly over a period of years without repeating. Scientists are unsure of the purpose of whale songs.
Only males sing, suggesting one purpose is to attract females. However, many of the whales observed to approach a singer are other males, often resulting in conflict. Singing may, therefore, be a challenge to other males. Some scientists have hypothesized the song may serve an echolocative function. During the feeding season, humpbacks make unrelated vocalizations for herding fish into their bubble nets.
Whales are air-breathing mammals who must surface to get the air they need. The stubby dorsal fin is visible soon after the blow exhalation when the whale surfaces, but disappears by the time the flukes emerge.
Humpbacks have a 3 m 9. They do not generally sleep at the surface, but they must continue to breathe. Possibly only half of their brain sleeps at one time, with one half managing the surface-blow-dive process without awakening the other half. These populations are distinct. Although the species has cosmopolitan distribution and is usually not considered to cross the equator line, seasonal observations at Cape Verde suggest possible interactions among populations from both hemispheres.
Aside from the Arabian Sea group, year-round presences have been confirmed among British and Norwegian waters. Parts of wintering grounds around the globe have been poorly studied or being undetected, such as around Pitcairn Islands , Northern Mariana Islands e.
Whales were once uncommon in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea , but have increased their presence in both waters as global populations have recovered. Recent increases within the Mediterranean basin, including re-sightings, indicate that more whales may migrate into the inland sea in the future, not only for wintering but also for feeding.
Breeding occurs in the Caribbean and Cape Verde. In the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, whales may breed off Brazil, as well the coasts of central, southern and southeastern Africa including Madagascar. Whale visits into Gulf of Mexico have been infrequent, but occurred in the gulf historically. Comparison of songs between those at Cape Lopez and Abrolhos Archipelago indicate that trans-Atlantic mixings between western and southeastern populations occur. A large population spreads across the Hawaiian Islands every winter, ranging from the island of Hawaii in the south to Kure Atoll in the north.
These animals feed in areas ranging from the coast of California to the Bering Sea. Humpbacks were first observed in Hawaiian waters in the midth century and might have gained a dominance over North Pacific right whales , as the right whales were hunted to near-extinction.
A study identified seven individuals then wintering off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica as having traveled from the Antarctic—around 8, km 5, mi. Identified by their unique tail patterns, these animals made the longest documented mammalian migration. In Australia, two main migratory populations were identified, off the west and east coasts. These two populations are distinct, with only a few females in each generation crossing between the two groups. South Pacific populations migrating off mainland New Zealand , Kermadec Islands , and Tasmania are increasing, but less rapidly than in Australian waters because of illegal whaling by the Soviet Union in the s.
Some recolonizing habitats are confirmed, especially in the North and South Atlantic e. English and Irish coasts, English Channel to coasts in the north such as the North Sea and Wadden Sea , where the first confirmed sighting since was made in , South Pacific e. Whales again migrate off Japanese archipelagos and into the Sea of Japan. All breeding activities except for giving births had been confirmed as of January, A non-migratory population in the Arabian Sea remains there year-round.
More typical annual migrations cover up to 25, km 16, mi , making it one of the most-traveled mammalian species. Genetic studies and visual surveys indicate that the Arabian group is the most isolated of all humpback groups and is the most endangered, numbering possibly fewer than animals. Whales were historically common in continental and marginal waters such as Hallaniyat Islands , along Indian coasts, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden and recent migrations into the gulf including by cow-calf pairs.
It is unknown whether whales seen in the Red Sea originate in this population, however sightings increased since in even in the northern part of the sea such as in Gulf of Aqaba. Individuals may reach the Maldives , Sri Lanka , or further east.
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