The Humpback Whale

Megaptera

by Allison

When you go to any place in the northeast Atlantic, or Bermuda, or the coast of Canada or go to some place in Iceland and see a large mammal that is a whale that has bumps all over it, you are probably seeing a humpbacked whale. These whales also live in western Greenland to the south to the West Indies, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and from the Bering Sea to southern Mexico. On the coast of Canada a third of the humpbacks have been hurt in some way by killer whales. Unfortunately this species is dying. There are not many left in the world.

The humpback whale is found near island banks and are normally in the open seas. They are easy to find because of their distinctive marks. They have lumps and bumps all over their body. Their bellies are black and their tails are black and white. Their flanks are a gray color and their throats are white

Their tails are never identical. Each one has its own marks. In the northeast over two thousand humpback tails have been photographed and have been looked at by scientists. Their flippers are long and the front edges are scalloped.

Humpbacks eat in small groups. When they swim they have their mouths open and go after schools of fish. They make their own fishing net by moving fast and their net becomes the bubbles surrounding them. They swim underneath the fish and with their net around themselves they shoot up and plunge out of the water with their food in their mouths. When they blow, their spout is wide and it arcs. There is this one room in their mouth that holds the food and some water. It is a rubbery room that pleats, expands and contracts.

The humpback whale lives most of its life alone. Sometimes they live with a partner. During mating season they live with large groups. In winter they migrate to warmer waters all over. They go from the north and south poles to the equator.

They are one of four breacher whales. Breaching means to jump out of the water. Whenever they jump, others always join them. One humpback has breached one hundred thirty times in only seventy-five minutes.

They sing songs low and they hold notes for a long time. It actually sound like an orchestra. We do not know how or why they sing. They can be messages. The males are the best pop singers. We first heard them in the 1700s. They sing the most complex songs of all the whales. They normally sing all day long. Humpbacks mostly sing at breeding grounds.

The humpbacks are disappearing There are only a fraction left in the world. Who knows what will happen in a few years.

McNulty, Faith, Whales: Their Life In the Sea, New York: Harper and Row, 1975

Carwardine, Mark, Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, New York: Darling Kindersley, Inc., 1992

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