Megaptera novaeangliae

Humpback whales are large and bloated. The average length of adult humpback whales is 12.9 meters for males and 13.7 meters for females. The largest female recorded is 18 meters. They weigh 25 to 30 tons.
Its head is relatively small, flat, with a wide snout and a large mouth. There are 20 to 30 tumor-like protrusions around its mouth. Interestingly, a hair grows on each protrusion, while the rest of the body is completely hairless. The baleen is short and wide, with more than 200 on each side. The dorsal fin is low, short and small. The back is not straight like other whales, but arches upward to form a graceful curve, hence the name "humpback whale", also known as "bowback whale" or "humpback whale". The pectoral fins are extremely narrow, thin and long, about 550 cm, the largest among whales, almost one-third of the body length. There are 4 toes on the flippers, with irregular tumor-like serrations on the front edge and wavy notches on the rear edge,

Humpback whales are found in all oceans, from the Antarctic ice edge to 65 degrees north latitude. They are a migratory species, spending summers in cool, high-latitude waters, but mating and breeding in tropical or subtropical waters. Humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 km (16,000 mi) per year. The exception is the Arabian Sea, which remains in those tropical waters year-round. Humpback whales are not found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Baltic, or the Arctic.
Main distribution countries and regions (sea areas): American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Antarctica, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, China, Chile, Cocos Island, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equator Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, Fre

Humpback whale is not the largest whale in the world, but it is also a well-deserved giant in the ocean.

Humpback whales mostly move in pairs, are gentle in temperament, and have a strong attachment to their companions. Every year, they migrate regularly from north to south: in summer, they migrate to cold waters to feed, and in winter, they migrate to warm waters to breed. They do not eat during the migration period. They swim slowly, about 8 to 15 kilometers per hour, and often make complex sounds similar to "singing".

Humpback whales mainly feed on small crustaceans such as krill that are less than 1 cm long, as well as krill, capelin, sand eel and other small fish. When its mouth is open, its special elastic ligament can temporarily detach the lower jaw, forming an angle of more than 90 degrees. The horizontal diameter of the mouth can reach 4.5 meters, which can swallow a large amount of krill or smaller fish in one mouthful, but the diameter of its esophagus is too small to swallow larger food, which may be one of the reasons why it can only eat small animals. Since they do not eat for several months during the winter, they need to eat a lot of food in the summer to maintain the physical energy required for their huge bodies, and they can often eat for 18 hours in a row. Due to the abundant sunshine, plankton grows in large quantities in the bays of the northern glacial zone, which feeds on zooplankton. The number of krill that feed on zooplankton is huge, and often millions of them gather together, thus providing a very rich food source for humpback whales.

The way humpback whales eat is also very interesting. The first is the sprint feeding method, which is to open the lower jaw very wide, and rush to the shrimp school sideways or on its back, then close the mouth, open the wrinkles under the lower jaw, swallow a lot of water and shrimp, and finally expel the water and swallow the shrimp; the second method is called the sprint feeding method, which is to flick the tail forward to drive the shrimp into the open mouth. This method is also only applicable when the shrimp are particularly dense; the third method is to swim upward in a spiral posture from a depth of about 15 meters, and spit out many bubbles of varying sizes, so that the last bubble and the first bubble rise to the surface of the water at the same time, forming a cylindrical or tubular bubble net, like a spider web woven by a huge sea spider, tightly surrounding the prey and forcing it to the center of the net, and it will open its mouth almost upright in the bubble circle and swallow the prey in the net. This method of hunting is similar to the scene where fishermen use two fishing boats to pull large fishing nets, gradually forcing fish and shrimp to the surface of the water, and then catch them all in one net. When the number of prey is scarce, humpback whales often forage alone or with only 2-3 together, and when the number of prey is large, they form a larger group of about 8, and sometimes different groups will compete for food. Therefore, sometimes the amount, distribution and type of food will directly affect the number of humpback whales.

Humpback whales are social animals with very gentle and friendly temperaments. Adults often express their feelings by touching each other, but when fighting with enemies, they use their long flippers or powerful tails to hit the opponent, or even use their heads to butt, which often results in skin and flesh ruptures and blood flowing. It swims very slowly, about 8 to 15 kilometers per hour. When it swims slowly on the sea surface, it is like an iceberg, with most of its body submerged in the water. Sometimes it looks like a freely floating island, and people can also see its body above the sea surface on the coast. It is very good at swimming and playing in the water. Sometimes it swims quickly underwater for a distance, then suddenly breaks out of the water, slowly rises vertically, until its flippers reach the water surface, and then its body begins to bend backwards slowly, like an acrobat's backflip. It can dive into the water and swim quickly, disappearing under the waves in just a few seconds and entering the dark abyss. When it comes out of the water to breathe, a short, thick and hot gas mixed with oil and water vapor will be ejected from its nostrils, rolling the surrounding seawater out of the sea surface, forming a spectacular water column, and at the same time making a loud sound similar to that of a steam engine, which is called a "spout" or "fog column". Sometimes it is so excited that it jumps out of the water, up to 6 meters high. The splashing sound when it falls into the water can be heard several kilometers away. Its movements are calm and graceful. Not only are barnacles and myoga cirriped animals often attached to its skin, but it also carries many animals with suction cups, which weigh half a ton in total. However, this does not seem to affect its movements and emotions at all.

Male humpback whales sing all day for about 6 months a year, and the ratio of percussion to pure sound in their songs is very similar to the ratio of the two in Western symphonies. This behemoth can produce at least 7 octaves of sound, but it does not roar without rules, but sings according to certain beats, scale lengths and musical phrases. Researchers also found that humpback whales are very good at singing in an "A-B-A" format commonly used by human singers, that is, singing a melody first, then further elaborating, and then returning to the slightly changed original melody. In addition, they also conduct "artistic exchanges". After the humpback whales in the Indian Ocean migrated to the Pacific Ocean of Australia, within three years, the "indigenous" humpback whales in Australia abandoned their traditional repertoire and sang the new songs brought by these outsiders.

Humpback whales mate in a monogamous system. Females give birth once every two years, with a gestation period of about 10 months and one calf per litter. When a female brings a calf, there is often another male following closely behind. Its task is to intercept other whales or small boats that invade, but if it encounters a vicious and cunning killer whale, it will be powerless. Like other mammals, the female feeds the young with milk, which is automatically squeezed out from the nipple. The young suck it in the water. The young grow very fast and can gain 40 to 50 kilograms a day. What is even more amazing is that the female provides all the nutrients for the growth of the young during the lactation period, but she herself has not eaten for a long time and only starts looking for food a few months later. The relationship between the female and the young is often tender and affectionate. The young touches the female with its two fins, and sometimes it seems to grab the female.

The populations of humpback whales in the North Atlantic and North Pacific are about 10,400 and 6,000 respectively. The population is on the rise, and the global number is unknown, but according to the latest quantitative assessment of the IWC Scientific Committee, the population has recovered to the level of 1940. Although the overall trend is increasing, some populations are still in a threatened state. In 2018, the IUCN counted 84,000. On April 22, 2022, an Australian teenager discovered an extremely rare white humpback whale in the coastal area of New South Wales on the 21st. According to marine animal experts, it may be the offspring of the famous white humpback whale "Migalo" discovered previously.

Listed in the "China Species Red List": Critically Endangered (CR).

Listed in the "National Key Protected Wildlife List": National Second Class Protected Animals.

Listed in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Least Concern (LC), assessed in 2018.

Listed in the first level of the China National Key Protected Wildlife List.

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