HUMPBACK WHALE BIOLOGY

(Megaptera novaeangliae)

Size: Adult whales can reach up to 18 meters long and

40 tons (Females are bigger than males). Newborns are
around 4 meters long and weigh up to 1 ton.

Appearance: Dark gray body with patches of white

across body and fins.

Diet: Mainly small crustaceans such as krill, plankton,

and small fish. Whales eat up to 1360 kg of food a day.

Photo: NOAA

Habitat
They are migratory animals, spending their time in
different oceans during the year. Their range is basically
the whole ocean. During their migration times, the whales
normally stay near the surface of the water as they are
moving. They travel long distances from their feeding
waters to the breeding waters.

They feed in cold waters near the arctic during the

northern hemisphere summer when productivity is high.
The mothers raise their young, called calves, in warm
shallow waters (in the tropics like the Marianas
Archipelago) where it is much safer from predators like
sharks.
Photo: NOAA

Reproduction:
Females generally give birth about every two or three years.
Females do not reach reproductive maturity until the ages
or 4 or 5. The mating season is peaks during the northern
hemisphere winter months

Gestation, or pregnancy, lasts about 11 or 12 months for

humpback whales. The calves drink their mothers milk for
about 10 months. They grow very rapidly during this time
before learning how to hunt food on their own. The male
does not provide parental care for the calves.

Photo: NOAA
HUMPBACK WHALE BIOLOGY
(Megaptera novaeangliae)

Feeding
Humpback whales feed by taking in large volumes of
water in and separating the water from the food (krill and
plankton) using baleen plates. Baleen plates are rows of
bristle-like hairs that line the top jaw of a whales mouth.
Whales push water through and around the baleen to
filter food out of the water.

Bubble netting is a method of hunting that some

humpback whales use. The whales use air bubbles to
corral the fish. Air bubble columns are used in figure 9
shaped rings. The bubbles are made around 5 meters
below the water and the whales feed in the middle of the
Photo: NOAA
ring near the surface of the water.

Unique Anatomy
Humpback whales are identifiable by the hump on their
back, or dorsal side, where dorsal fins of other whales
and dolphins are located. Additionally, they have
exceptionally long pectoral fins.

The whales are normally a dark gray color with spots of

white scattered across the body, but particularly on their
finds. These patterns of white spots differ from whale to
whale. These spots on the tail fins, or flukes, of the whale
are used by scientists to identify individual whales.

The whales are known for their long pectoral fins which
help them move through the water.
Photo: Laura Francis, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Humpback whales are a type of baleen whales which

mean they have baleen plates in their mouths that help
when they feed. The baleen are rows of bristle like combs
that are made from the same protein as finger nails.

References: www.nmfs.noaa.gov, Daring 2001, Friedlander et al. 2011,www.afsc.noaa.gov