Humpback Whale
Scientific Name : Megaptera Novaeangliae
- IUCN: Least Concern (Internationally) / Endangered (East Indian Ocean?)
- Other names: None known
- Swahili name: Nyangumi nundu mgongoni
- Length: 11-15m (females are generally larger than males)
- Weight: 30-40 tonnes
- Life expectancy: 50+
- Abundance: Worldwide in tropical to high-latitude waters
- Occurance: June – October
- Primary prey: Small crustaceans (krill) and small schooling fish (herring)
- Conservation status: Around 15,000 in the Indian Ocean. Vessel strikes, Entanglement in fishing gear and Ocean noise pose as most occurring threats.
- Quick key identification: Low broad dorsal which sits on a hump. Lump and tubercles on their long head about one-third of their body lenght. Very long pectoral fins up to one-third of total body length with 4-6 distinctive bumps on their leading edges. Colour of back is usually black and underside has a variable degree of white on the throat, belly and the underside of the flippers and tail flukes. 14-35 long throat pleats extending to the navel. Between 270-400 pairs of black/olive baleen plates connected on each side of the upper jaw and about one metre long each.
Unique and famous for their singing. Males sing and usually (though not exclusively) along mating and breeding grounds. The songs last about 10-15 minutes and change regularly throughout the season, making males compete and attract females. It is believed by some scientists that the females choose the male based on their symphony of song.
They are also famous for their intricate methods in catching prey; the most striking is by creating a trap of bubbles in order to catch fish. Known as “bubble netting” the whales alone or collectively will blow bubbles while circling below the fish to push them to the surface. The surface of the water looks akin to boiling water as the fish try to escape the trap and the humpback whale swims from below towards the surface with mouth open to swallow hundreds of them in one gulp making for an impressive show to viewers.
When they dive, the curvature of their back is high as they plunge down with their fluke the last to appear. Flukes, like fingerprints of a human, are the easiest way to tell the identity of the whale due to the markings on the under side due to the black and while colouration.
They are also famous for their intricate methods in catching prey; the most striking is by creating a trap of bubbles in order to catch fish. Known as “bubble netting” the whales alone or collectively will blow bubbles while circling below the fish to push them to the surface. The surface of the water looks akin to boiling water as the fish try to escape the trap and the humpback whale swims from below towards the surface with mouth open to swallow hundreds of them in one gulp making for an impressive show to viewers.
When they dive, the curvature of their back is high as they plunge down with their fluke the last to appear. Flukes, like fingerprints of a human, are the easiest way to tell the identity of the whale due to the markings on the under side due to the black and while colouration.
- Very long pectoral fins up to 1/3rd of total body length
- Series of bumps on flipper edges
- Serrated trailing edge to tail flukes
- Low broad dorsal hump
- Tubercles on the head
- Black and white colouration
- 14-35 long throat pleats extending to the naval
- Baleen: 270-400 pairs of black/olive baleen plates
