Humpback WhaleMegaptera novaeangliae만날 수 있는 장소와 시기

The humpback whale is a migratory baleen whale found in oceans worldwide. Many populations travel between productive feeding grounds in cooler waters and warmer breeding areas, although migration patterns differ substantially between regions. Its exceptionally long flippers, knobbly head and powerful tail make it distinctive. Historic whaling severely reduced numbers, and recovery remains uneven, with entanglement, vessel strikes, noise and changing food availability continuing to affect populations.

Size

12–16 m long

Weight

25–40 tonnes

Lifespan

50–90 years

Status

Least Concern

Humpbacks often feed alone or in temporary groups, sometimes coordinating bubble-net feeding to concentrate schooling prey. Breaches, tail slaps and flipper slaps are conspicuous surface behaviours, but their functions vary with context. Males produce elaborate songs, especially around breeding grounds. Mothers maintain close contact with their calves, which depend on rich milk. Individuals can be recognised from the pigmentation and scars on the underside of their tail flukes. Bubble-net feeding involves several whales working together to blow bubbles in a circle around prey, forming a 'net' to trap fish before surfacing to feed. Surface active behaviors like breaching are thought to serve various purposes, including communication, dislodging parasites, or playing. The complex songs produced by males can last for 20 minutes or more and are believed to play a role in mating and social interactions.

• Pectoral flippers can reach roughly one-third of body length.
• The underside of the tail flukes provides a natural photographic identification pattern.
• Male songs can change across a breeding season and spread between populations.
• Some populations undertake migrations of several thousand kilometres between feeding and breeding areas.

Choose timing by population rather than hemisphere alone. Alaska and New England favour the warmer feeding season, Antarctica the austral summer, and several tropical regions have winter breeding visitors. Norway also offers autumn and winter feeding opportunities where herring aggregate. In the Southern Hemisphere, humpbacks are primarily observed in Antarctic waters during the austral summer months from December to March for feeding. For tropical breeding grounds such as Fiji, Polynesia, and coastal Mexico, winter to early spring (typically December to April) is the prime viewing period for mothers and calves. Cape Verde and the Seychelles also experience winter breeding visitors, particularly between January and May.

This is an entirely marine species using continental shelves, island waters, fjords and open-ocean migration corridors. Feeding grounds generally offer concentrated fish or krill, while many mothers with calves favour relatively sheltered breeding waters. Some populations follow less conventional seasonal movements. Humpbacks are found in all major oceans, undertaking some of the longest migrations of any mammal, sometimes covering thousands of miles between feeding and breeding grounds. While feeding, they prefer colder, productive waters, but they seek warmer, shallow waters for calving and nursing. They are often seen near coastlines, making them more accessible for observation than many other large whale species.

Humpbacks filter small schooling fish and krill through baleen plates, taking large mouthfuls of prey-rich water before expelling the water. Important prey vary geographically and include herring, capelin and sand lance. Many adults feed little during migration and breeding. An adult humpback can consume up to 3,000 pounds of food per day during peak feeding periods to build blubber reserves for migration. In some areas, their diet also includes krill and small crustaceans, which they filter using their fringed baleen plates. These filter-feeders are not equipped with teeth for biting prey.

Common name

Humpback Whale

Scientific name

Megaptera novaeangliae

Animal group

Mammals

Size

12–16 m long

Weight

25–40 tonnes

Lifespan

50–90 years

Status

Least Concern

Identification

Compared with most other large whales, humpbacks have exceptionally long pectoral flippers, prominent head tubercles and a small dorsal fin set on a variable hump. The underside of their flukes, which they often lift high out of the water before a deep dive, presents unique black and white pigmentation patterns that act like a human fingerprint for individual recognition. Their long pectoral flippers, which can be up to one-third of their body length, are typically white on the underside. The presence of numerous knobby tubercles on their head, each with a single hair follicle, is another key identifier.