Humpback Whale

Breaching, vocals and long migrations.

Humpback Whales, renowned for their acrobatics like breaching and flipper-slapping, possess the longest flippers among whales, enhancing their distinctive silhouette. These features, alongside the unique black-and-white patterns on the underside of their tails, enable individual identification. Their songs, complex and melodious, are sung by males, speculated to play roles in communication and mating, with these vocalizations being among the most elaborate in the animal kingdom. The whales are known for their long migrations, among the longest of the animal kingdom, covering thousands of kilometers between feeding grounds in polar waters and breeding grounds in tropical or subtropical seas. This migratory behavior, coupled with their physical and vocal traits, underscores their adaptability and the richness of their social and ecological interactions across the world’s oceans.

Quick facts

Length

Male: 15m

Female: 16m

Calf: 4,6m

Weight

Adults: 35 tons

Calves: 1 ton

Habits

Dive Time

40 mins

Dive Depth

<300m

Reproduction

50-75 years

Life Span:

11 months

Gestation period:

Dive sequence

@Georgina Cabayol

Behavior

Socializing +

Humpback Whales are more expressive and acrobatic at the surface than any other large whale species. Their behaviors, including breaching, flipper-slapping, and lobtailing, serve various functions like communication, mate attraction, and prey corralling. These activities are seen year-round across different contexts. Intriguingly, they also engage in “bubble-netting,” creating large bubbles to trap fish, showcasing their cooperative feeding strategy.

Vocalizing +

Humpback whales exhibit diverse vocalizations including songs, feeding calls, and social sounds, with unique vocal types like “wops” for mother-calf communication, “thwops” for general interaction, and “grunt trains” in groups. Males sing complex songs, peaking in winter, with wide frequency ranges, believed to serve purposes like serenading, male interactions, status gain, and attracting females to groups.

Resting +

While specific details on resting are less documented, their surface behaviors suggest periods of lower activity that could be indicative of rest phases between their energetic foraging and socializing bouts. Thanks to an omnidirectional (360°) camera held on a humpback whale, they discovered that they rest while drifting underwater, but also on the surface.

Foraging & Diet +

Their diet comprises krill and a wide array of schooling fish. Humpbacks have developed several foraging techniques, including lunge-feeding and the unique bubble-net feeding, to capture their prey. This adaptability is evident in their feeding grounds, closely linked to upwelling zones and ice-edge regions, where they employ diverse strategies to exploit available food sources efficiently.

https://wwhandbook.iwc.int/en/species/humpback-whale

Distribution & Movements

Humpback whales migrate globally, between summer feeding grounds in mid to high latitudes and winter breeding grounds in low latitudes. They are seldom seen in the Mediterranean. Climate change is pushing some populations towards polar regions due to longer feeding seasons from less sea ice. There are 14 known winter breeding grounds, spread across the North Atlantic, North Pacific, Southern Hemisphere, and the Arabian Sea, with an average breeding temperature of 25°C. These migrations mix populations, enhancing genetic diversity. Whales often return to their maternal feeding grounds, choosing areas with specific oceanographic features. In the North Atlantic, they breed mainly in the West Indies and feed in six areas, including the Gulf of Maine and Iceland, with Bermuda and the Azores as migration stopovers. The North Pacific has six breeding populations, including the Hawaiian Islands and Mexico. In the Southern Hemisphere, seven populations migrate to the Southern Ocean, with significant numbers in Colombia and Brazil.

Reproduction & Life History

Sexual maturity

Males and females reach sexual maturity at ages varying from 4 to 11 years, with this age being slightly higher in the southern hemisphere. The maturation age differs between populations, being generally older in the North Pacific compared to the North Atlantic.

Gestation period

The gestation lasts about 11 to 11.5 months, leading to the birth of a single calf.

Number of calves

Females typically give birth every two years, though this can extend to three years, and more rarely, annually or every 4 to 5 years.

Suckling period

Calves are weaned after 10 to 12 months, starting to feed independently as young as six months.

Nursing

The mother-calf bond usually breaks on the autumn migration or on feeding grounds.

Lifespan

Humpback Whales have a lifespan of at least 50 years, with many reaching or exceeding 75 years.

Mating strategy

Mating behavior peaks during winter assemblies in the breeding season, with males competing aggressively for access to females. This includes escorting female-calf pairs, suggesting a strategy where males aim to be present when females are most receptive.

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Orcinus orca

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Balaenoptera edeni

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Megaptera novaeangliae

Melodic giants with acrobatic displays, known for their haunting songs and intricate social behaviors. Know more!

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Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

Breaching, vocals and long migrations.

Quick facts

Length

Weight

Habits

Reproduction

Reproduction

IUCN RED LIST STATUS: Least Concern <img width="21" height="26" class="graphics-design-i" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tooltip-more-info-futurismo.svg"> Common and widespread, low vulnerability.

Physical characteristics

Group Structure

Dive sequence

Behavior

Predators

Distribution & Movements

Reproduction & Life History

Sexual maturity

Gestation period

Number of calves

Suckling period

Nursing

Lifespan

Mating strategy

Species in the Azores

Sighting frequency

Sighting frequency

BY SPECIES

Sighting frequency

BY SPECIES

Species

Departure Points

Dates

Related Scientific Articles

Santos, R. P. et al (2022): First Humpback Whale Re-sighting Between Azorean Waters and the Barents Sea

Sardà, C. et al (2011): AzoresPhotoID: First Results from an Open-Access Photo-Identification Catalog

Valente, R. et al (2019): Baleen whales in Macaronesia: occurrence patterns revealed through a bibliographic review

Valente, R. et al (2019): When and Where? Unravelling Distribution Patterns of Baleen Whales through a Bibliographic Review

Correia, A. M. et al (2016): Blue and Humpback Whales: Unravelling Migratory Routes through a Spatio-Temporal Analysis in Macaronesia

Correia, A. M. et al (2015): Migratory Routes of Humpback Whales in the Atlantic: Where and When?

Van der Linde, M. et al (2013): Baleen Whales Sighted Occasionally in the Azores: Bryde’s Whale, Minke Whale, and Humpback Whale

González, L. (2018): Spatio-temporal distribution of the order Cetacea in the Azores: relationship between biotic and abiotic variables

Specimen that you can see in Azores sea

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Sperm Whale

Physeter macrocephalus

Sperm Whale

Physeter macrocephalus

Bryde’s Whale

Balaenoptera edeni

Bryde’s Whale

Balaenoptera edeni

Fin Whale

Balaenoptera physalus

Fin Whale

Balaenoptera physalus

Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

Nothern Bottlenose Whale

Hyperoodon ampullatus

Nothern Bottlenose Whale

Hyperoodon ampullatus

Pilot Whale (Long & Short-finned)

Globicephala melas | Globicephala macrorhynchus

Pilot Whale (Long & Short-finned)

Globicephala melas | Globicephala macrorhynchus

IUCN RED LIST STATUS: Least Concern

Common and widespread, low vulnerability.