THE HUMPBACK WHALES
- Friendly Fins
- Dec 4, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 8
Why learn about humpback whales?
“Simply because we are the best singers in the ocean! Real stars!”
Humpback whales are cetaceans of the fin whale family, which includes the largest animals on the planet.
How to recognize the humpback whale from other cetaceans:
The first thing to notice is the vertical puff produced by the blowhole which can reach 3 meters in height.
“You have to look for some kind of water clumps on the surface to spot us!”
The body is very hydrodynamic, with a dark back and white belly.
“The white of our belly shines in the sun when we jump out of the water!”
The pectoral fins are much narrower and more flexible than those of other cetaceans: they are 1/3 of the length of the animal and thanks to a very mobile joint they can rotate them easily.
“We use them to do so many things, watch us!”
The dorsal fin is virtually absent, replaced by small humps relatively close to the tail.
It has a breath-hold of 20-25 minutes, always living in the first 150 m of depth. “You have to have a little patience when you wait to see us!”
Its muzzle is often full of parasites that give it a “wrinkled” appearance.
“They are really annoying, we always try to get rid of them!”
“We are very flashy with our super jumps!”
The dimensions are about 15-16 m for 40 tons
“We are as long as a bus but heavier!”
What does the humpback whale eat?
Humpback whales eat more than a ton of plankton a day, in particular they are fond of a small shrimp called krill. They feed on this animal comfortably swimming on the surface with their mouths open, leaving the task of incorporating enormous quantities of water to the throat grooves and filtering it thanks to the powerful baleen.
“Our throat grooves are similar to your accordions. When they widen, they let a lot of water into our mouths. When they narrow, they let it out and filter through the baleen, which is similar to your combs with very close-packed teeth!”
They also have a completely original technique for fishing: they slowly rise from the bottom to the surface, turn in circles, emitting air from the blowhole, forming a network of bubbles that trap small fish. The bubble net.
“We are very imaginative.”
The life of the humpback whale
Humpback whales can live up to 80-90 years, they are very long-lived cetaceans. They reach sexual maturity between 4 and 10 years of age and from here on the hard male courtship begins with jumps and songs. Sexual choice can in fact be determined more by the male's singing ability than by his physical prowess.
Once the female is conquered, mating lasts very little and is done belly to belly.
The females will then have a gestation period of 11 months and will give birth to a single cub weighing one and a half tons, which they will never lose sight of for at least a year.
The “little one” drinks about 190 liters of milk a day. The milk, rich in fat, allows it to grow quickly and to develop excellent thermal insulation right from the start. The little ones will grow up to 10 years and will always remain in the group they belong to until adulthood.
During life, females tend to always stay in groups with their younger offspring as a true family nucleus.
Males, on the other hand, live alone or in small groups called bachelor groups.
The distinction between males and females remains very difficult as they are physically very similar.
“But you can tell if we are male or female by our striking behavior!”
The parental care of these animals is very intense: the mother always exchanges signals of affection and attention with the cub, becoming aggressive against any threat (orcas and humans).
“The life of a humpback whale mother is totally dedicated to her young, protecting and raising them; do we create a bond with our young as strong as the bond between a human mother and child, or perhaps even stronger?”
The Singing Whale
They produce the longest and most complex songs in the animal kingdom. They can be heard up to 10 km away, with very specific meanings in different social and environmental contexts.
The songs are very different: the males produce real songs with elaborate moans and groans, which can last half an hour and have a courtship function. With each breeding season, the songs change slightly, evolving.
“We males love to sing, it’s important to be heard all over the ocean and especially by the females, we want to impress them… They are so beautiful! Every season we try to change our songs to impress them, a bit like your summer hits!”
Other songs, mostly similar to “whispers” are instead made by the little ones to communicate with their mothers without being heard by possible predators such as killer whales or sharks. The sound is audible at no more than 300 m away.
“We little ones are very shy and defenseless, we must not let anyone hear us except our mother, because the sea is full of dangers”
The humpback whale's jumps
Humpback whales perform several types of leaps out of the water, serving both intragroup and intergroup communication roles. Leaps are performed by both males and females, both calves and adults; they play a much more profound role than we know today.
“With the jumps we want to convey our emotions, which are truly many!”
The migration of the humpback whale
The humpback whale lives in all the seas of the world and is divided into 14 distinct populations. The population of SouthEast Africa/Madagascar is found in Nosy Be.
The humpback whale migrates 25 thousand km per year, going at 15 km/h,
"Let's swim calmly!"
Humpback whales migrate to:
high latitudes in search of nourishment, the waters towards the poles are very rich in plankton.
low latitudes (up to the equator) in warm, shallow waters, to mate and give birth to their young.
The first to leave the cold Antarctic seas are the females that have just finished weaning their young and are therefore able to follow them, then the immature individuals, then mature males and females and finally the pregnant females. Humpback whales are often infested with parasites such as barnacles or barnacle (due to the pH of the skin) that stick to their snout, throat grooves and ventral part of the flippers. They cause friction on the water, not allowing effective swimming. Humpback whales migrate to warmer waters, especially near the coast and rivers (with different pH) and manage to kill or weaken these parasites.
“Our migrations can therefore have pleasant “wellness paths” during the journey!”
During their migration to tropical waters and their stay there, humpback whales almost never feed, in fact they manage to store enough fat in the winter season to last them the whole year.
“In Nosy Be you can observe us from mid-August to the end of September, but there are always exceptions!”
Humpback Whale Altruism
Humpback whales tend to defend not only their own young but any being in difficulty, the reason is still unknown but evolution has rewarded a behavior that apparently favors not their own species but others!
“Our most powerful weapons are our long pectoral fins bristling with sharp barbed teeth, which convince even the most tenacious killer whales and sharks to give up and leave.”
The Enemies of the Humpback Whale
The natural enemies of humpback whales are sharks and killer whales that obviously target the weak individual and the young. In addition to them, they do not run risks related to fishing, indeed their populations are increasing but there is the problem of collisions with boats and entrapment in fishing nets. If not managed responsibly and respectfully, even Whale Watching to admire these splendid animals could cause severe stress.
“We like to be photographed and admired, we know we are beautiful! But we are afraid if you get too close to us! We are so big that you can see us even from far away!”
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