What does a humpback whales look like?

Answer 1

the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12-16 meters (39-52 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in mating.

Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometers (16,000 mi) each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net feeding technique.

Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. There are at least 80,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpbacks are now sought by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia, New Zealand, South America, Canada, and the United States.

Humpback whales are rorquals (family Balaenopteridae), a family that includes the blue whale, the fin whale, the Bryde's whale, the sei whale and the minke whale. The rorquals are believed to have diverged from the other families of the suborder Mysticeti as long ago as the middle Miocene.[3] However, it is not known when the members of these families diverged from each other.

Though clearly related to the giant whales of the genus Balaenoptera, the humpback has been the sole member of its genus since Gray's work in 1846. More recently though, DNA sequencing analysis has indicated the Humpback is more closely related to certain rorquals, particularly the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), and possibly to the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), than it is to rorquals such as the minke whales.[4][5] If further research confirms these relationships, it will be necessary to reclassify the rorquals.

The humpback whale was first identified as "baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre" by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Regnum Animale of 1756. In 1781, Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its Latin equivalent, Balaena novaeangliae. Early in the 19th century Lacépède shifted the humpback from the Balaenidae family, renaming it Balaenoptera jubartes. In 1846, John Edward Gray created the genus Megaptera, classifying the humpback as Megaptera longpinna, but in 1932, Remington Kellogg reverted the species names to use Borowski's novaeangliae.[6] The common name is derived from the curving of their back when diving. The generic name Megaptera from the Greek mega-/μεγα- "giant" and ptera/πτερα "wing",[7] refers to their large front flippers. The specific name means "New Englander" and was probably given by Brisson due the regular sightings of humpbacks off the coast of New England.[6]

Humpback whales can easily be identified by their stocky bodies with obvious humps and black dorsal coloring. The head and lower jaw are covered with knobs called tubercles, which are actually hair follicles and are characteristic of the species. The fluked tail, which it lifts above the surface in some dive sequences, has wavy trailing edges.[8] There are four global populations, all under study. North Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean humpbacks have distinct populations which complete a migratory round-trip each year. The Indian ocean population does not migrate, prevented by that ocean's northern coastline.

The long black and white tail fin, which can be up to a third of body length, and the pectoral fins have unique patterns, which make individual whales identifiable.[9][10] Several hypotheses attempt to explain the humpback's pectoral fins, which are proportionally the longest fins of any cetacean. The two most enduring mention the higher maneuverability afforded by long fins, and the usefulness of the increased surface area for temperature control when migrating between warm and cold climates. Humpbacks also have 'rete mirable', a heat exchanging system, which works similarly in humpbacks, sharks and other fish.[citation needed]

A humpback whale tail displaying wavy rear edges

A tail from a different individual - the tail of each humpback whale is visibly unique.

Humpbacks have 270 to 400 darkly coloured baleen plates on each side of the mouth. The plates measure from a mere 18 inches (46 cm) in the front to approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) long in the back, behind the hinge. Ventral grooves run from the lower jaw to the umbilicus about halfway along the underside of the whale. These grooves are less numerous (usually 16-20) and consequently more prominent than in other rorquals.[citation needed]

The stubby dorsal fin is visible soon after the blow when the whale surfaces, but disappears by the time the flukes emerge. Humpbacks have a 3 metres (9.8 ft) heart-shaped to bushy blow, or exhalation of water through the blowholes. Because Humpback Whales breathe voluntarily, researchers[who?] have said that it is possible that the whales shut off only half of the brain when sleeping. Early whalers also noted blows from humpback adults to be 10-20 feet (3.0-6.1 m) high.

Newborn calves are roughly the length of their mother's head. At birth, calves measure 20 feet (6.1 m) at 2 short tons (1.8 t) The mother, by comparison, is about 50 feet (15 m). They nurse for approximately six months, then mix nursing and independent feeding for possibly six months more. Humpback milk is 50% fat and pink in color. Some calves have been observed alone after arrival in Alaskan waters.[citation needed]

Females reach sexual maturity at the age of five, achieving full adult size a little later. Males reach sexual maturity at approximately 7 years of age. The humpback whale lifespan ranges from 45-100 years.[11]

Fully grown, the males average 15-16 metres (49-52 ft). Females are slightly larger at 16-17 metres (52-56 ft), and 40,000 kilograms (44 short tons); the largest recorded specimen was 19 metres (62 ft) long and had pectoral fins measuring 6 metres (20 ft) each.[12]

Females have a hemispherical lobe about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in diameter in their genital region. This visually distinguishes males and females. The male's penis usually remains hidden in the genital slit. Male whales have distinctive scars on heads and bodies, some resulting from battles over females.Template:Fact tag

Identifying individualsThe varying patterns on the tail flukes are sufficient to identify individuals. Unique visual identification is not currently possible in most cetacean species (other exceptions include orcas and right whales), making the humpback a popular study species.[citation needed] A study using data from 1973 to 1998 on whales in the North Atlantic gave researchers detailed information on gestation times, growth rates, and calving periods, as well as allowing more accurate population predictions by simulating the mark-release-recapture technique (Katona and Beard 1982). A photographic catalogue of all known North Atlantic whales was developed over this period and is currently maintained by College of the Atlantic.[13] Similar photographic identification projects have begun in the North Pacific by SPLASH (Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpbacks), and around the world. Life historyReproductionFemales typically breed every two or three years. The gestation period is 11.5 months, yet some individuals have been known to breed in two consecutive years. The peak months for birth are January, February, July, and August. There is usually a 1-2 year period between humpback births. Humpback whales were thought to live 50-60 years, but new studies using the changes in amino acids behind eye lenses proved another baleen whale, the bowhead, to be 211 years old. This animal was taken by the Inuit off Alaska.[citation needed]

Recent research on humpback mitochondrial DNA reveals that groups that live in proximity to each other may represent distinct breeding pools.[14]

Social structure

Humpbacks frequently breach, throwing two thirds or more of their bodies out of the water and splashing down on their backs.

See also: Whale surfacing behaviour

The humpback social structure is loose-knit. Typically, individuals live alone or in small, transient groups that disband after a few hours. These whales are not excessively social in most cases. Groups may stay together a little longer in summer to forage and feed cooperatively. Longer-term relationships between pairs or small groups, lasting months or even years, have rarely been observed. It is possible that some females retain bonds created via cooperative feeding for a lifetime. The humpback's range overlaps considerably with other whale and dolphin species - for instance, the minke whale. However, humpbacks rarely interact socially with them, though humpback calves in Hawaiian waters sometimes play with bottlenose dolphin calves.[citation needed]

CourtshipCourtship rituals take place during the winter months, following migration toward the equator from summer feeding grounds closer to the poles. Competition is usually fierce, and unrelated males dubbed escorts by researcher Louis Herman frequently trail females as well as mother-calf dyads. Groups of two to twenty males gather around a single female and exhibit a variety of behaviors over several hours to establish dominance of what is known as a competitive group. Group size ebbs and flows as unsuccessful males retreat and others arrive to try their luck. Behaviors include breaching, spyhopping, lob-tailing, tail-slapping, fin-slapping, peduncle throws, charging and parrying. Less common "super pods" may number more than 40 males, all vying for the same female. (M. Ferrari et al.)

Whale song is assumed to have an important role in mate selection; however, scientists remain unsure whether song is used between males to establish identity and dominance, between a male and a female as a mating call, or both.[citation needed]

SongMain article: Whale song

Spectrogram of Humpback Whale vocalizations. Detail is shown for the first 24 seconds of the 37-second recording "Singing Humpbacks". The ethereal whale "songs" and echolocation "clicks" are visible as horizontal striations and vertical sweeps respectively. Spectrogram generated with Fatpigdog's PC based Real Time FFT Spectrum Analyzer.

Singing Humpbacks Recording of Humpback Whales singing and Clicking.

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Answer 2

like a whale but hunched over