The facts about Humpback whales

Appearance

The Humpback's official name is "Megaptera Novaeangliae". Megaptera is Latin for long winded referring to their overgrown flippers that may reach a third of their body length and Novaeangliae referring to the knobbles that are on its short broad snout, chin and sides of the lower jaw. All whales, dolphins and porpoises are known collectively as "Cetaceans" from the Latin word cetus meaning large sea animal and the Greek word ketos meaning sea monster.

The average length of a male (bull) is 13.7 metres (44.9 ft) and for a female (cow) is 12.9 metres (42.3ft), making them the fifth largest of the whale family. They can weigh as much as 45,000kg or the equivalent of 11 elephants.

The main colour of the Humpback is black with various sizes of white patches often on their abdomen, the undersurface of flippers and beneath the flukes. The colour patterns are uniquely individual.

Although they are found in all oceans they feed on different foods. The Antarctic Humpbacks feed on krill and have a life span of fifty years or more.

Mothers and Babies - Gestation takes 11 -12 months. Mating and birthing occurs in the warmer waters. A baby whale is called a calf, weighs an average of 1,500kg and has an average length of 3.5 metres at birth. A mother whale produces 600 litres of milk a day. A baby calf gains a weight of 45kg to 60kg a day.

Migration

During December, whales feed in the South Polar Region and begin to head north sometime in January. They travel a slow relatively straight path, reaching tropical waters around June. By the end of July and throughout August, Hervey Bay will start to see adult whales. In September adults and juveniles will appear, followed lastly by the mothers and calves in October/November, who will spend time in these waters before making their way back to the South Polar Region.

The young calves must stay in these warm tropical waters in order to grow a protective layer of blubber which will protect them from the cold polar waters of the Antarctic. The calves feed off their mother's milk, but the adult whales do not eat during the breeding season living off their blubber (fat) until they return south to feed on the Antarctic krill.

Why do the whales use Hervey Bay as a stop over? Since 1990 there has been an annual 13.5% increase of whales to the area. The Humpback whales have 18 migratory routes worldwide and the reason they chose Hervey Bay as one of their migratory routes has never been fully explained.

Why Hervey Bay?

In 1992 the world's first sighting of a totally white (albino) whale, the White Whale, occurred in Hervey Bay. Revisiting in 1993, it was not seen in these waters again until 1998. From the information gathered, this whale is shy, approximately 10 years old and because he sings is a male.

Behaviour

The name Humpback came from its distinctive diving action. After exhaling, the Humpback begins to dive by arching its body and rolling ahead. Despite many old drawings depicting whales spouting water this is not true. The cloud that appears is actually a vapour condensation caused by the exhaling of two lungs the size of a small car, which they can empty and refill in two seconds.

Humpbacks are seldom seen alone being more social than other rorquals and gather in large loose groups for feeding and breeding. Their docile behaviour changes in the mating/birthing season where the gentle bulls can become extremely aggressive toward other bulls to claim their mate.

The Humpback is the most approachable and acrobatic of all the large whales and with the following repartee, can put on quite a show.

Breaching - Propels most of its body out of the water then turns to crash back into the water.
Tail slap - The slapping of flutes on the surface while their body is near vertical.
Sky hop - The whale rises its body straight out of the water so its eyes just clear the water and then slips gently back again.
Body slap - The rear body and flutes are brought out of the water to slap sideways onto the water or another whale.
Head slap - The whale lifts most of its body from the water and then crashes its head back into the water.

Singing - of all the whale species, humpbacks are the most vocal, loudest, eeriest, and most beautifully creative when they sing. Their songs are a long complicated pattern of underwater sequences of tweets, groans or grunts and other sounds. Only male whales 'sing' and probably is an indication of territorial status and/or a mating cry as their singing is only in the warmer waters.

They sing the most complicated love song of all animals yet do not have vocal cords and simply 'push' air through hollow tubes in their bodies. They sing the same love song in a particular area which gradually changes over a period of time. The males remember their song note by note and when they commence singing again during the mating season, their song is the same as the one they last sung at their previous season - some seven months before.

A recording of their song is aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 the space probes travelling through outer space.

Whaling

Although extinction of many whale species in the past was contributed to the inability to adapt to changes in environment, mans deliberate exploitation of whales became a more serious threat to certain species, notably the Humpback.

The early years of the great Antarctic whaling industry depended almost entirely on the humpback for several reasons. They were slow swimming 6-12 km/hr (11-21 knots), swam in communities, were less afraid and very approachable, more predictable in occurrence and close coastal swimmers. Humpbacks were taken on their migratory paths and were an easy prey for both the aborigines and modern commercial whalers.

During the 1960's with only 7% of their population remaining, the humpback were under serious threat of extinction. Commercial whaling ceased in Australian waters in 1963.

During the past three decades since the whaling industry demise, the humpback whale populations are increasing and the recovery rate looks more promising with each passing year. However, it is still uncertain if they will ever return in their former numbers as their place in the world's ecosystem has been taken by other aquatic animals dependant on krill such as the penguin and seals, who's population has flourished because of the whales demise from the whaling years.

Caring for Whales, Dolphins and the Oceans

The Oceania Project is a non-profit education and research organisation dedicated to raising awareness about Cetacea (Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises) and the Ocean Environment. The site provides up-to-date information about Whales and Dolphins and offers the means for you to directly participate in their care, protection and conservation. Using original photography from our Annual Humpback Whale Research Expeditions in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, we will share what we are learning about the Whales.