The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of
baleen whale
Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their ...
. It is a
rorqual
Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, which comprise the family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin wha ...
(a member of the family
Balaenopteridae) and is the
only species in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long
pectoral fins
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
and
tubercle
In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal.
In plants
A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...
s on its head. It is known for
breaching and other distinctive
surface behaviors, making it popular with
whale watchers. Males produce a complex
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes.
Found in
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
s and
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
s around the world, humpback whales typically
migrate up to each year. They feed in
polar
Polar may refer to:
Geography
Polar may refer to:
* Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates
* Polar climate, the c ...
waters and migrate to
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
or
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of
krill
Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...
and small
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
, and they
use bubbles to catch prey. They are
promiscuous
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...
breeders, with both sexes having multiple partners.
Orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...
s are the main natural predators of humpback whales.
Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
industry. Humans once hunted the species to the brink of
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
; its population fell to around 5,000 by the 1960s. Numbers have partially recovered to some 135,000 animals worldwide, while entanglement in
fishing gear
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ k ...
, collisions with ships, and
noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...
continue to affect the species.
Taxonomy
The humpback was first identified as ''baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre'' by
Mathurin Jacques Brisson
Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.
Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...
in his ''Regnum Animale'' of 1756. In 1781,
Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
equivalent, ''Balaena novaeangliae''. In 1804,
Bernard Germain de Lacépède
Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...
shifted the humpback from the family
Balaenidae
Balaenidae () is a family of whales of the parvorder Mysticeti that contains two living genera: the right whales (genus ''Eubalaena''), and in a separate genus, the closely related bowhead whale (genus ''Balaena'').
Evolutionary history
Bale ...
, renaming it ''B. jubartes''. In 1846,
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...
created the genus ''Megaptera'', classifying the humpback as ''Megaptera longipinna'', but in 1932,
Remington Kellogg
Arthur Remington Kellogg (5 October 1892 – 8 May 1969) was an American naturalist and a director of the United States National Museum. His work focused on marine mammals.
Early life and career
Kellogg was born in Davenport, Iowa, and quick ...
reverted the species names to use Borowski's ''novaeangliae''. The common name is derived from the curving of their backs when diving. The generic name ''Megaptera'' from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''mega-'' ("giant") and ''ptera''/ ("wing") refer to their large front flippers. The specific name means "New Englander" and was probably given by Brisson due to regular sightings of humpbacks off the coast of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
.
Humpback whales are
rorqual
Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, which comprise the family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin wha ...
s, members of the
Balaenopteridae family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
, which includes the
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
,
fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
,
Bryde's,
sei and
minke whale
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish n ...
s. A 2018 genomic analysis estimates that rorquals diverged from other baleen whales in the late
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
, between 10.5 and 7.5 million years ago. The humpback and fin whale were found to be
sister taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and t ...
. There is reference to a humpback-blue whale hybrid in the
South Pacific, attributed to marine biologist Michael Poole.
Modern humpback whale populations originated in the southern hemisphere around 880,000 years ago and colonized the northern hemisphere 200,000–50,000 years ago. A 2014 genetic study suggested that the separate populations in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans have had limited
gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent a ...
and are distinct enough to be
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
, with the scientific names of ''M. n. novaeangliae'', ''M. n. kuzira'' and ''M. n. australis'' respectively. A non-migratory population in the
Arabian sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
has been isolated for 70,000 years.
Description
![Humpback Whale, blowholes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Humpback_Whale%2C_blowholes.jpg)
The adult humpback whale is generally , though longer lengths of have been recorded. Females are usually longer than males. The species can reach body masses of . Calves are born at around long with a weight of .
The body is bulky with a thin
rostrum
Rostrum may refer to:
* Any kind of a platform for a speaker:
**dais
**pulpit
* Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects
* Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships
* Ros ...
and proportionally long flippers, each around one-third of its body length. It has a short dorsal fin that varies from nearly non-existent to somewhat long and curved. As a rorqual, the humpback has grooves between the tip of the lower jaw and the navel. They are relatively few in number in this species, ranging from 14–35. The mouth is lined with baleen plates, which number 270-400 for both sides.
Unique among large whales, humpbacks have bumps or
tubercle
In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal.
In plants
A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...
s on the head and front edge of the flippers; the tail fluke has a jagged
trailing edge
The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
. The tubercles on the head are thick at the base and poke up to . They are mostly hollow in the center, often containing at least one fragile hair that erupts from the skin and is thick. The tubercles develop early in the womb and may have a sensory function as they are rich in nerves.
The dorsal or upper-side of the animal is generally black; the ventral or underside has various levels of black and white coloration. Whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have more white pigmentation. The flippers can vary from all-white to white only on the undersurface. The varying color patterns and scars on the tail flukes distinguish individual animals. The end of the genital slit of the female is marked by a round lobe. This lobe visually distinguishes males and females.
Behavior and ecology
![Humpback stellwagen edit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Humpback_stellwagen_edit.jpg)
Humpback whale groups, aside from mothers and calves, typically last for days or weeks at the most. They are normally sighted in small groups though large
aggregations form during feeding and among males competing for females. Humpbacks may interact with other cetacean species, such as
right whale
Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the Southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are clas ...
s,
fin whale
The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of cet ...
s, and
bottlenose dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...
s. Humpbacks are highly active at the surface, performing aerial behaviors such as
breaching and surface slapping with the tail (
lobtailing) and flippers. These may be forms of
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
and communication and/or for removing parasites.
Humpbacks rest at the surface with their bodies laying horizontally. The species is a slower swimmer than other rorquals, cruising at . When threatened, a humpback may speed up to . They appear to dive within and rarely below . Dives typically do not exceed five minutes during the summer but are normally 15–20 minutes during the winter. As it dives, a humpback typically raises its tail fluke, exposing the underside.
Feeding
Humpback whales feed from spring to fall. They are
generalist
A generalist is a person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not. It may also refer to:
Occupations
* a physician who provides general health care, as opposed to a medical specialist; see also:
** General pract ...
feeders, their main food items being
krill
Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...
and small schooling fish. The most common krill species eaten in the southern hemisphere is the
Antarctic krill
Antarctic krill (''Euphausia superba'') is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 ind ...
. Further north, the
northern krill
Northern krill (''Meganyctiphanes norvegica'') is a species of krill that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is an important component of the zooplankton, providing food for whales, Pinniped, seals, fish and birds. (In the Southern Ocean, Anta ...
and various species of ''
Euphausia
''Euphausia'' is the largest genus of krill, and is placed in the family Euphausiidae. There are 31 species known in this genus, including Antarctic krill (''Euphausia superba'') and ice krill ('' Euphausia crystallorophias'') from the Southern O ...
'' and ''
Thysanoessa Thysanoessa
Abstract
''Thysanoessa'' is a genus of the krill that play critical roles in the marine food web. They're abundant in Arctic and Antarctic areas, feeding on zooplankton and detritus to obtain energy. Thysanoessa are responsible for ...
'' are consumed. Fish prey include
herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
,
capelin
The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin ...
,
sand lances and
Atlantic mackerel
The Atlantic mackerel (''Scomber scombrus''), also known as Boston mackerel, Norwegian mackerel, Scottish mackerel or just mackerel, is a species of mackerel found in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the northern ...
. Like other rorquals, humpbacks are "gulp feeders", shallowing prey in bulk, while
right whale
Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the Southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are clas ...
s and
bowhead whale
The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus ''Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, ...
s are skimmers. The whale increases its mouth gape by expanding the grooves. Water is pushed out through the baleen. In the southern hemisphere, humpbacks have been recorded foraging in large compact gatherings numbering up to 200 individuals.
![Whales Bubble Net Feeding-edit1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Whales_Bubble_Net_Feeding-edit1.jpg)
Humpbacks hunt their prey by performing
bubble-net feeding
Bubble-net feeding is a feeding behavior engaged in by humpback whales
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ...
. A group of whales swim in a shrinking circle while blowing air from their blowholes, capturing the prey above them in a cylinder of bubbles. They may dive up to performing this technique. Bubble-netting comes in two main forms; upward spirals and double loops. Upward spirals involve the whales blowing air from their blowhole continuously as they circle towards the surface, creating a spiral of bubbles. Double loops consist of a deep, long loop of bubbles that herds the prey, followed by slapping the surface and then a smaller loop that prepares the final capture. Combinations of spiraling and looping have been recorded. After the humpbacks create the "nets", the whales swim into them with their mouths gaping and ready to swallow.
Using
network-based diffusion analysis, one study argued that whales learned lobtailing from other whales in the group over 27 years in response to a change in primary prey. The tubercles on the flippers stall the
angle of attack
In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...
, which both maximizes
lift
Lift or LIFT may refer to:
Physical devices
* Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods
** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop
** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...
and minimizes
drag (see
tubercle effect
The tubercle effect is a phenomenon where tubercles or large 'bumps' on the leading edge of an airfoil can improve its aerodynamics. The effect, while already discovered, was analyzed extensively by Frank E. Fish et al in the early 2000 onwards ...
). This, along with the shape of the flippers, allows the whales to make the abrupt turns necessary during bubble-feeding.
Courtship and reproduction
![HIHWNMS - humpback and calf - Permit14682-37906 (26491391423)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/HIHWNMS_-_humpback_and_calf_-_Permit14682-37906_%2826491391423%29.jpg)
Mating and breeding take place during the winter months, which is when females reach
estrus
The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous p ...
and males reach peak testosterone and sperm levels. Humpback whales are
promiscuous
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...
, with both sexes having multiple partners. Males will frequently trail both lone females and cow–calf pairs. These are known as "escorts", and the male that is closest to the female is known as the "principal escort", who fights off the other suitors known as "challengers". Other males, called "secondary escorts", trail further behind and are not directly involved in the conflict.
Agonistic behavior between males consists of tail slashing, ramming, and head-butting.
Gestation in the species lasts 11.5 months, and females reproduce every two years. Humpback whale births have been rarely observed. One birth witnessed off Madagascar occurred within four minutes. Mothers typically give birth in mid-winter, usually to a single calf. Calves suckle for up to a year but can eat adult food in six months. Humpbacks are sexually mature at 5–10 years, depending on the population. The length at maturity is around . Humpack whales possibly live over 50 years.
Vocalizations
![HumBack2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/HumBack2.jpg)
Male humpback whales produce complex songs during the winter breeding season. These vocals range in
frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
between 100
Hz to 4 Hz, with
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
s reaching up to 24 kHz or more, and can travel at least . Males may sing for between 4 and 33 minutes, depending on the region. In Hawaii, humpback whales have been recorded vocalizing for as long as 7 hours. Songs are divided into layers; "subunits", "units", "subphrases", "phrases" and "themes". A subunit refers to the discontinuities or inflections of a sound while full units are individual sounds, similar to
musical notes
In music, a note is the representation of a musical sound.
Notes can represent the pitch and duration of a sound in musical notation. A note can also represent a pitch class.
Notes are the building blocks of much written music: discretization ...
. A succession of units creates a subphrase, and a collection of subphrases make up a phrase. Similar-sounding phrases are repeated in a series grouped into themes, and multiple themes create a song.
The function of these songs has been debated, but they may have multiple purposes. There is little evidence to suggest that songs establish
dominance among males. However, there have been observations of non-singing males disrupting singers, possibly in aggression. Those who join singers are males who were not previously singing. Females do not appear to approach singers that are alone, but may be drawn to gatherings of singing males, much like a
lek mating
A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...
system. Another possibility is that songs bring in foreign whales to populate the breeding grounds. It has also been suggested that humpback whale songs have
echolocating properties and may serve to locate other whales.
Whale songs are similar among males in a specific area. Males may alter their songs over time, and others in contact with them copy these changes. They have been shown in some cases to spread "horizontally" between neighboring populations throughout successive breeding seasons. In the northern hemisphere, songs change more gradually while southern hemisphere songs go through cyclical "revolutions".
Humpback whales are reported to make other vocalizations. "Snorts" are quick low-frequency sounds commonly heard among animals in groups consisting of a mother–calf pair and one or more male escort groups. These likely function in mediate interactions within these groups. "Grumbles" are also low in frequency but last longer and are more often made by groups with one or more adult males. They appear to signal body size and may serve to establish social status. "Thwops" and "wops" are
frequency modulated
Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and computing.
In analog freq ...
vocals, and may serve as
contact call Contact calls are seemingly haphazard sounds made by many social animals (such as a chicken's cluck). Contact calls are unlike other calls (such as alarm calls) in that they are not usually widely used, conspicuous calls, but rather short exclamatio ...
s both within and between groups. High-pitched "cries" and "violins" and modulated "shrieks" are normally heard in groups with two or more males and are associated with competition. Humpback whales produce short, low-frequency "grunts" and short, modulated "barks" when joining new groups.
Predation
Visible scars indicate that
orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...
s prey upon juvenile humpbacks. A 2014 study in Western Australia observed that when available in large numbers, young humpbacks can be attacked and sometimes killed by orcas. Moreover, mothers and (possibly related) adults escort calves to deter such predation. The suggestion is that when humpbacks suffered near-extinction during the whaling era, orcas turned to other prey but are now resuming their former practice. There is also evidence that humpback whales will defend against or
mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
killer whales who are attacking either humpback calves or juveniles as well as members of other species, including
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
s. The humpback's protection of other species may be unintentional, a "spillover" of mobbing behavior intended to protect members of its species. The powerful flippers of humpback whales, often infested with large, sharp
barnacles
A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in eros ...
, are formidable weapons against orcas. When threatened, they will thresh their flippers and tails keeping the orcas at bay.
The
great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...
is another confirmed predator of the humpback whale. In 2020, Marine biologists Dines and Gennari ''et al.'', published a documented incident of a group of great white sharks exhibiting pack-like behavior to attack and kill a live adult humpback whale. A second incident regarding great white sharks killing humpback whales was documented off the coast of South Africa. The shark recorded instigating the attack was a female nicknamed "Helen". Working alone, the shark attacked a emaciated and entangled humpback whale by attacking the whale's tail to cripple and bleed the whale before she managed to drown the whale by biting onto its head and pulling it underwater.
Range
![Breach W Lighthouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Breach_W_Lighthouse.jpg)
Humpback whales are found
worldwide
Worldwide may refer to:
* Pertaining to the entire world
* Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper
* Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper
* ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003
* ''Worldwide' ...
, except for some areas at the equator and High Arctic and some enclosed seas. The furthest north they have been recorded is at
81°N around northern
Franz Josef Land
, native_name =
, image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg
, image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land
, image_size =
, map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg
, map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...
. They are usually coastal and tend to congregate in waters within
continental shelves
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...
. Their winter breeding grounds are located around the equator; their summer feeding areas are found in colder waters, including near the polar ice caps. Humpbacks go on vast
migrations between their feeding and breeding areas, often crossing the open ocean. The species has been recorded traveling up to in one direction. An isolated, non-migratory population feeds and breeds in the northern Indian Ocean, mainly in the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
around
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
. This population has also been recorded in the
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...
, the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
, and off the coasts of Pakistan and India.
In the North Atlantic, there are two separate wintering populations, one in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, from Cuba to northern Venezuela, and the other in the
Cape Verde Islands
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
and northwest Africa. During summer, West Indies humpbacks congregate off
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, eastern Canada, and western
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, while the Cape Verde population gathers around Iceland and Norway. There is some overlap in the summer ranges of these populations, and West Indies humpbacks have been documented feeding further east. Whale visits into the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
have been infrequent but have occurred in the gulf historically. They were considered to be uncommon in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
, but increased sightings, including re-sightings, indicate that more whales may colonize or recolonize it in the future.
The North Pacific has at least four breeding populations: off Mexico (including
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
and the
Revillagigedos Islands), Central America, the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
, and both
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. The Mexican population forages from the
Aleutian Island
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...
s to California, particularly the
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...
, northern and western
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...
, southern British Columbia to northern Washington State, and Oregon to California. During the summer, Central American humpbacks are found only off Oregon and California. In contrast, Hawaiian humpbacks have a wide feeding range but most travel to
southeast Alaska
Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...
and northern British Columbia. The wintering grounds of the Okinawa/Philippines population are mainly around the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
. There is some evidence for a fifth population somewhere in the northwestern Pacific. These whales are recorded to feed off the Aleutians with a breeding area somewhere south of the
Bonin Islands
The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...
.
Southern Hemisphere
![Humpback Whales in antarctica](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Humpback_Whales_in_antarctica.jpg)
In the Southern Hemisphere, humpback whales are divided into seven breeding stocks, some of which are further divided into sub-structures. These include the southeastern Pacific (stock G), southwestern Atlantic (stock A), southeastern Atlantic (stock B), southwestern Indian Ocean (stock C), southeastern Indian Ocean (stock D), southwestern Pacific (stock E), and the Oceania stock (stocks E–F). Stock G breeds in tropical and subtropical waters off the west coast of Central and South America and forages along the west coast of the
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...
, the
South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula[Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...]
of southern Chile. Stock A winters off Brazil and migrates to summer grounds around
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg
, map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...
. Some stock A individuals have also been recorded off the western Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting an increased blurring of the boundaries between the feeding areas of stocks A and G.
Stock B breeds on the west coast of Africa and is further divided into Bl and B2 subpopulations, the former ranging from the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...
to Angola and the latter ranging from Angola to western South Africa. Stock B whales have been recorded foraging in waters to the southwest of the continent, mainly around
Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island ( ; or ''Bouvetøyen'') is an island claimed by Norway, and declared an uninhabited protected nature reserve. It is a subantarctic volcanic island, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ri ...
. Comparison of songs between those at
Cape Lopez
Cape Lopez () is a headland on the coast of Gabon, west central Africa. The westernmost point of Gabon, it separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South Atlantic Ocean. Cape Lopez is the northernmost point of a low, wooded island between two mouths ...
and
Abrolhos Archipelago
The Abrolhos Archipelago () are a group of 5 small islands with coral reefs off the southern coast of Bahia state in the northeast of Brazil, between 17º25’—18º09’ S and 38º33’—39º05’ W. Caravelas is the nearest town. Their name c ...
indicate that trans-Atlantic mixings between stock A and stock B whales occur. Stock C whales winter around southeastern Africa and surrounding waters. This stock is further divided into C1, C2, C3, and C4 subpopulations; C1 occurs around
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
and eastern South Africa, C2 around the
Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...
, C3 off the southern and eastern coast of Madagascar and C4 around the
Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...
. The feeding range of this population is likely between coordinates
5°W and
60°E and under
50°S. There may be overlap in the feeding areas of stocks B and C.
Stock D whales breed off the western coast of Australia, and forage in the southern region of the
Kerguelen Plateau
The Kerguelen Plateau (, ), also known as the Kerguelen–Heard Plateau, is an oceanic plateau and a large igneous province (LIP) located on the Antarctic Plate, in the southern Indian Ocean. It is about to the southwest of Australia and is ...
. Stock E is divided into E1, E2, and E3 stocks. E1 whales have a breeding range off eastern Australia and
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
; their main feeding range is close to Antarctica, mainly within
130°E and
170°W. The Oceania stock is divided into the
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
(E2),
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
(E3),
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
(F1) and
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
(F2) subpopulations. This stock's feeding grounds mainly range from around the
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who vi ...
to the Antarctic Peninsula.
Human relations
Whaling
Humpback whales were hunted as early as the late 16th century. They were often the first species to be harvested in an area due to this coastal distribution. North Pacific kills alone are estimated at 28,000 during the 20th century. In the same period, over 200,000 humpbacks were taken in the Southern Hemisphere. North Atlantic populations dropped to as low as 700 individuals. In 1946, the
International Whaling Commission
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation of ...
(IWC) was founded to oversee the industry. They imposed hunting regulations and created hunting seasons. To prevent
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
, IWC banned commercial humpback whaling in 1966. By then, the global population had been reduced to around 5,000. The Soviet Union deliberately under-recorded its catches; the Soviets reported catching 2,820 between 1947 and 1972, but the true number was over 48,000.
As of 2004, hunting was restricted to a few animals each year off the Caribbean island of
Bequia
Bequia ( or ) is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at . It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island o ...
in
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
. The take is not believed to threaten the local population. Japan had planned to kill 50 humpbacks in the 2007/08 season under its
JARPA II research program. The announcement sparked global protests. After a visit to Tokyo by the IWC chair asking the Japanese for their co-operation in sorting out the differences between pro- and anti-whaling nations on the commission, the Japanese whaling fleet agreed to take no humpback whales during the two years it would take to reach a formal agreement. In 2010, the IWC authorized Greenland's native population to hunt a few humpback whales for the following three years.
Conservation status
![DeadHumpback](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/DeadHumpback.jpg)
As of 2018, the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
lists the humpback whale as
least-concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
, with a worldwide population of around 135,000 whales, of which around 84,000 are mature individuals, and an increasing population trend. Prior to 2008, the IUCN listed the species as
vulnerable. Regional estimates are around 13,000 in the North Atlantic, 21,000 in the North Pacific, and 80,000 in the southern hemisphere. For the isolated population in the Arabian sea, only around 80 individuals remain, and this population is considered to be
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
. In most areas, humpback whale populations have recovered from historic whaling, particularly in the North Pacific. Such recoveries have led to the downlisting of the species' threatened status in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In Costa Rica,
Ballena Marine National Park
Ballena Marine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Marino Ballena), is a National Park of Costa Rica, part of the Osa Conservation Area created as a safe area for humpback whale migration, hence its name, as is the Spanish word for whale.
The na ...
was established for humpback protection.
Humpbacks still face various other human-made threats, including entanglement by fishing gear, vessel collisions, human-caused noise and traffic disturbance, coastal habitat destruction, and climate change. Like other cetaceans, humpbacks can be injured by excessive noise. In the 19th century, two humpback whales were found dead near repeated oceanic sub-bottom blasting sites, with traumatic injuries and fractures in the ears.
Saxitoxin
Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent neurotoxin and the best-known paralytic shellfish toxin (PST). Ingestion of saxitoxin by humans, usually by consumption of shellfish contaminated by toxic algal blooms, is responsible for the illness known as paralyt ...
, a
paralytic shellfish poisoning
Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is one of the four recognized syndromes of shellfish poisoning, which share some common features and are primarily associated with bivalve mollusks (such as mussels, clams, oysters and scallops). These shellfi ...
from contaminated mackerel, has been implicated in humpback whale deaths. While oil ingestion is a risk for whales, a 2019 study found that oil did not foul baleen and instead was easily rinsed by flowing water.
Whale researchers along the Atlantic Coast report that there have been more stranded whales with signs of vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement in recent years than ever before. The
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
recorded 88 stranded humpback whales between January 2016 and February 2019. This is more than double the number of whales stranded between 2013 and 2016. Because of the increase in stranded whales, NOAA declared an unusual mortality event in April 2017.
Virginia Beach Aquarium's stranding response coordinator, Alexander Costidis, stated the conclusion that the two causes of these unusual mortality events were vessel interactions and entanglements.
Whale-watching
Much of the growth of commercial
whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins ( cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...
was built on the humpback whale. The species' highly active surface behaviors and tendency to become accustomed to boats have made them easy to observe, particularly for photographers. In 1975, humpback whale tours were established in New England and Hawaii. This business brings in a revenue of $20 million per year for Hawaii's economy. While Hawaiian tours have tended to be commercial, New England and California whale watching tours have introduced educational components.
Notable individuals
The Tay whale
![Struthers Tay Whale Dissection by George Washington Wilson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Struthers_Tay_Whale_Dissection_by_George_Washington_Wilson.jpg)
In December 1883, a male humpback swam up the
Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Du ...
in Scotland, past what was then the whaling port of
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. Harpooned during a failed hunt, it was found dead off
Stonehaven
Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census.
After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...
a week later. Its carcass was exhibited to the public by a local entrepreneur, John Woods, both locally and then as a touring exhibition that traveled to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The whale was dissected by Professor
John Struthers, who wrote seven papers on its anatomy and an 1889 monograph on the humpback.
Migaloo
An
albino
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
humpback whale that travels up and down the east coast of Australia became famous in local media because of its rare, all-white appearance. Migaloo is the only known Australian all-white specimen, and is a true albino. First sighted in 1991, the whale was named for an
indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
word for "white fella". To prevent sightseers from approaching dangerously close, the Queensland government decreed a 500-m (1600-ft) exclusion zone around him.
Migaloo was last seen in June 2014 along the coast of Cape Byron in Australia. Migaloo has several physical characteristics that can be identified; his dorsal fin is somewhat hooked, and his tail flukes have a unique shape, with edges that are spiked along the lower trailing side. In July 2022, concerns arose after a white whale washed up on the shores of
Mallacoota
Mallacoota is a small town in the East Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Mallacoota had a population of 1,063. At holiday times, particularly Easter and Christmas, the population increases by about 8,000 ...
beach, however after genetic testing, and noting that the carcass was of a female whale while Migaloo is male, it was confirmed by experts to not be Migaloo.
Humphrey
In 1985, Humphrey swam into
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
and then up the
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...
towards
Rio Vista. Five years later, Humphrey returned and became stuck on a
mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
in San Francisco Bay immediately north of
Sierra Point below the view of onlookers from the upper floors of the
Dakin Building
The Dakin Building is an architectural award-winning class A office building on the San Francisco Bay in Brisbane, California. Serving as a corporate headquarters building for several companies of national prominence, it was built from the profit ...
. He was twice rescued by
the Marine Mammal Center
The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) is a private, non-profit U.S. organization that was established in 1975 for the purpose of rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing marine mammals who are injured, ill or abandoned. It was founded in Sausalito, Califo ...
and other concerned groups in California. He was pulled off the mudflat with a large
cargo net
A cargo net is a type of net. It is usually square or rectangle, but sometimes round, made of thick rope, with cinch ropes extending from the corners, and in some designs, the edges. It is named for its use in transferring cargo to and from shi ...
and the help of the
US Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
. Both times, he was successfully guided back to the Pacific Ocean using a "sound net" in which people in a
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
of boats made unpleasant noises behind the whale by banging on steel pipes, a Japanese fishing technique known as ''oikami''. At the same time, the attractive sounds of humpback whales preparing to feed were broadcast from a boat headed towards the open ocean.
See also
*
List of cetaceans
Cetacea is an infraorder that comprises the 94 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. It is divided into toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti), which diverged from each other in the Eocene some 50 million years ago (m ...
*
Wilhelmina Bay
Wilhelmina Bay is a bay wide between the Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna along the west coast of Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-99 led by Adrien de Gerlache. The bay is named f ...
*
List of animals with humps
References
External links
; General
US National Marine Fisheries Service Humpback Whale web page* ARKive
images and movies of the humpback whale ''(Megaptera novaeangliae)''
an
Humpback Whale Gallery (Silverbanks)*
Humpback whale videosThe Humpback Whales of Hervey BayEpic humpback whale battle filmed
; Humpback whale songs
The Whalesong Project*
ttp://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/baleenWhales/humpback.html Voices of the Sea – Sounds of the Humpback Whale
Songlines – Songs of the Eastern Australian Humpback whales
; Conservation
; Videos
Humpback whales' attempt to stop killer whale attack– ''
Planet Earth Live'' –
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
Humpback whales defend Gray whale against Killer whales(
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
)
Humpbacks Block Orcas’ Feeding Frenzy(
LiveScience
Live Science is a science news website run by Future via Purch, which it purchased from Imaginova in 2009. Stories and editorial commentary are typically syndicated to major news outlets, such as Yahoo!, MSNBC, AOL, and Fox News.{{fact, date=Mar ...
)
Humpback whales charge group of transient orcas(
Save Our Seas Foundation
The Save Our Seas Foundation is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization committed to protecting the world’s oceans. It was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23 September 2003.
Focusing primarily on charismatic threatened wildlife (end ...
)
Humpbacks Chase Killer Whales Right Under Our Boat, 8/24/2014Humpback Whale Mother Fights Off Males to Protect Calf , BBC EarthWhale Protects Diver From Shark,
The Dodo
; Other
Dead calfat the
Amazon rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
{{Featured article
Mammals described in 1781
Articles containing video clips
Baleen whales
Cosmopolitan mammals
ESA threatened species
Taxa named by Georg Heinrich Borowski