Species Spotlight: Humpback Whale
Did you know that February is National Humpback Whale Awareness Month? And that February 20th is World Whale Day? To celebrate, let’s take a closer look at the humpback whale for today’s species spotlight!
Humpback whales are marine mammals that belong to the family Balaenopteridae. Balaenopteridae, are the largest group of baleen whales. Baleen is the series of fringed plates hanging in the whale’s mouth that are used to strain seawater for food.
Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. All populations of humpback whales were reduced by more than 95 percent, before a final moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985. While numbers have recovered worldwide, they still experience a range of threats. The United States listed all humpback whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act in 1970 and then under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Currently, four out of the 14 distinct populations are still protected as endangered, and one is listed as threatened.
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Humpback whales have white undersides to their flukes, flippers, and bellies.
A humpback whale feeding.
Tail flukes can be used as “fingerprints” to identify different individuals!
A humpback whale breaching.
A mother humpback and her calf.
Humpback Whale
Scientific Name: Megaptera novaeangliae
Identification: Humpback whales can be identified by their stocky body and the shape of the “hump” on their dorsal fins. Unique to humpbacks are the round bumps, or tubercles, that are found on their head and on the edges of their flippers. Humpbacks are mainly black or grey with white undersides to their flukes (tails), flippers and bellies. One of the most notable characteristics of humpbacks are their long pectoral flippers. Humpback flukes can be up to 18 feet wide. Their flukes are serrated along the edge, and pointed at the tips. Tail fluke pigmentation patterns, varying shapes and sizes, and/or scars, are unique to each animal. They can be used as “fingerprints” to identify individuals. Humpback whales can grow to be 60 feet long.
Diet: A humpbacks diet consists of mostly small crustaceans (krill) and small fish. During the warmer months, humpbacks spend most of their time feeding and building up blubber (fat stores) to sustain them throughout the winter.
Habitat: Humpbacks live throughout the world's major oceans. They can travel great distances during their seasonal migration with some animals migrating 5,000 miles between summer feeding grounds and winter mating and calving areas. While calving, they prefer shallow, warm waters commonly near offshore reef systems or shores. Humpback feeding grounds are generally in cold and productive waters.
Find this Species: Humpbacks are regularly found in shallow water and have been observed within Long Island Sound, Block Island Sound, Gardiner's Bay, the south shore of Long Island from the Rockaway to Montauk, and in the NY Harbor area. While they can be found in NY waters throughout the year, they are found in the greatest numbers around Long Island from June-October. Don’t worry, you don’t need a boat to find them! Often, they can be observed right from the shore! Look along the horizon for the line of water they expel through their blowhole when they come up for air!
Interesting Facts: Humpbacks genus, Megaptera, translates from Latin as "large winged." Due to these large flippers, humpbacks are relatively slow swimmers but can maneuver through the water with ease.
While feeding, humpbacks use several techniques to help them herd, corral, and disorient prey by using bubbles, sounds, the seafloor, and even their pectoral fins. One method is "group coordinated bubble net feeding". This involves using air bubbles to corral fish and push them toward the surface. They are then engulfed as the whales lunge upward!
Female humpbacks produce a single calf every 2 to 3 years on average. Calves are born after an 11-month gestation and measure between 13 to 16 feet in length. Calves stay near their mothers for up to 1 year before weaning.
Humpbacks are extremely vocal! They make a great variety of sounds and string these together to form “songs” lasting 5–35 minutes. The songs vary among groups of whales in different regions and undergo gradual but distinctive changes from year to year.
Humpbacks can be often be found close to shore displaying activities near the surface such as breaching and slapping the surface with their pectoral fins and tails!
Some threats to humpback whales include: entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, vessel-based harassment, and ocean noise.