The Amazing And Unique Nature Of *"The Humpback Whale"*...

The "Humpback whale" also called humpbacks is a unique and interesting specie of the "Baleen whale" with the scientific/botanical name "megaptera novaeangliae" and is a member of the conventional whale family.

Pictorial views of the Humpback whales in water

The "Humpback whale" as a mammal is exceptional from other whales (such as the killer whale, Sperm whale, Blue whale, Beluga whale, Narwhals or Narwhale, North Atlantic right whale and the North Pacific right whale) and its distinctive features, abilities and behavioural pattern are quite overwhelming...

Scientifically, the humpback whale has its genus traced from"Megaptera Gray", its family; "Balaenopteridae", Order; "Artiodactyla", and phylum; "Chordata" according to
professor Georg Heinrich Borowski in 1781, who was a German Zoologist. The "humpback whale" is "least concerned" based on its "conservational status" as it is neither "threatened" nor "extinct".

Anatomy, Body Build-Up and Design Of The Humpback whale

Humpbacks can easily be identified by their stocky( solidly built, sturdy, heavy and compact)body, black dorsal (back) coloring, elongated pectoral fins,protruding humps and a knobbly head.

Most Whales, and other Cetaceans have "flippers" with smooth leading edges. However, the humpback whale is different. It has uniquely large bumps which is also the covering of its head and lower jaw with knobs also called "tubercles"( A round nodule-like or warty growth mostly found on bones for the attachment of a muscle or ligament or small elevation on the surface of a tooth) on the leading edge of its flippers. These are hair follicles (cavities or sacs) and are the main features of this specie.

As the humpback swims, water flows over the bumps and breaks up into a multitude of vortices. The bumps channel the water flow and create turbulence known as"turbercle effect ".

This " turbercle effect" provides the whale with more lift which is mechanically known as a "drag effect", allowing it to "tilt" its flippers at a high angle up to a critical level without "stalling". At high angle, these bumps also reduce which is an important benefit for the humpback long flippers, each being about one-third (1/3) of the whale's body length..how exciting...

This particular bump feature of the humpback whale is very vital as most researchers and scientists are applying this concept to "design and make more efficient water turbines, wind mills, boat rudders and helicopter rotor blades".

A skeletal view of the humpback whale showing its bumps at the museum of osteology at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The humpbacks have darkly colored baleen(bony)plates ranging from 270 to 400 on each side of their mouths and the plates
measures from 18inches(46cm) in front to about 3ft(0.91m) in the back, behind their hinges.

The fluked tail of the humpback whale, which typically rises above the sea level when diving, has wavy travailing edges. Its ventral grooves run from the lower jaw to the umbilical cord, about halfway along the under of its body. These grooves are more in other "rorquals"(whales) than in the humpback(which has approximately 14 to 22 grooves) on its body.

The fluked tail of the humpback whale..

The female humpback whale has a lobe that is hemispherical in shape in her genital region that distinguishes it from the male humpback whale whose penis remains hidden in the genital slit.

The Baffling Size Of The Humpback Whale

Interestingly, it will baffle one that an adult humpback whale on the average, is about 14.64m to 19.06m (48ft to 62.5ft)...wow...w!!this is quite colossal for an aquatic mammal..

Comparatively, the "humpback whale" size can be likened to a "city bus" but for its weight which is about 40tonnes(40,000kg)..

A fully grown female humpback whale is slightly larger than a grown male humpback whale. The size of female humpbacks ranges from 15 to 16m(49 to 52ft) and the size of male humpbacks
ranges from 13 to 14m(43 to 46ft) almost equivalent to the height of a four-storey building if made to stand uprightly...

The Humpback whale Song

At this point, I know one may be puzzled at the fact that a whale can actually sing..yeah..hh!!.it does make sounds and yells..I so much love this aspect of this mammal..

The humpback whales are known for their "plaintive and magical songs" which can travel for greater distances underwater" as it swings through the ocean...

For instance, a male humpback produces a complex song lasting for about 10 to 20 minutes, which they continuously repeat for hours at a time. These sequence of moans, howls, cries and other noises are quite complex and they continue to vocalize for hours to the end..

Scientists are studying these sounds to
understand their meaning. It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates...

Behaviour, Habitat And Parenting

The humpback whales are commonly found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like, krill, plankton and small fishes..

They migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the artic poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator..

The mothers and their young swims often called "calves" are close together, often touching one another with their "flippers"; this appears to be their gestures of affection..

Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves can't stop growing until they are ten years old..

The Female Humpback Whale and its young Calf

The Feeding Habit Of The Humpback Whale

Humpbacks are omnivorous mammals as they feed on both plants and animals. They feed opportunistically and rarely in their wintering waters but prey mostly on krills, Pacific Salmons, herrings, capelins, American sand Lance, cope pods and Atlantic mackerels..

The humpback whale has the most unique hunting and feeding technique of all the whales and this technique is called the "bubble net feeding".

The "bubble net feeding" involves whales swimming into a circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey forming a "net-ring or cylinder" hereby attracting the preys to the net using a "crittercam" attached to their back. The humpback whale then swiftly swims upwards through the net with their mouth wide open, swallowing thousands of fishes in one gulp..

Humpback with their mouth wide open during bubble net feeding

Swimming And Breaching Ability

Humpbacks are powerful swimmers and they use their massive tail fins called "flukes" to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it.

These whales, like other whales, regularly leap from the water landing with a tremendous splash.

Considering its breaching ability (which is the ability of the whale to break out of waters), scientists aren't sure if this breaching ability serves some purpose, such as coastal defense or cleaning off parasitic pests from the host's skin, or whether it simply does it for fun..

The Humpback whales breaching

The leisure activity of observing humpback in the wild is known as *whale watching *.

In relation to humans, humpbacks are typically easily approachable, curious, identifiable as individuals and display many behaviours; they have now become the mainstay of whale tourism around the world..

However, its remarkably agile, dazzling and fashionable nature when diving and turning the ocean with the help of its bumps, makes the humpback whale quite unique from other whales..