Painting by Duncan Murrell
photo by Duncan Murrell
- Baleen is made of the same material your fingernails and hair are - keratin.
- There are ten different 'Baleen whales': Blue, Bowhead, Bryde's, Fin, Gray, Humpback, Minke, Right, Sei and Pygmy right whales.
- Blue whales are the largest animals ever in existence (bigger than the biggest dinosaur).
- Whales are not fish, they are warm-blooded mammals.
- Like almost all mammals, whales bear their offspring alive and the mother nurses its 'calf' with milk.
- 'Baby' humbback whales are born weighing around 2.5 tons and approach 15 feet in length.
- Whales interact in groups we call 'pods'.
- The number of individual whales in each pod varies by species.
- Humpback whales are organized in loose, temporary pods of ten or more individuals.
- The mother humpback and its calf have a very close and lasting relationship.
- Humpback whales are the only species of whale that cooperatively 'buddle net' feeds.
- Currently, Humpback whale populations are estimated to be approximately 25,000 individuals world wide.
- The Humpback whale is a member of the Balaenopteridae family, commonly known as rorquals.
- A distinguishing characteristic of the humpback whale is its extremely long flippers. The humpback's genus, 'Megaptera' means "huge-wings". These flippers are up to 1/3 of their body length. They have the longest flippers of any whale.
- Humpbacks normally swim between 3 to 9 mile per hour (mph), but reach speeds up to 16.5 mph when theatened. Their average speed while feeding is between 1.2 to 3.5 mph.
- Male Humpback whales sing complex songs which range between (20 to 9,000 Hertz).
- Since the Humpback songs occur only in warm waters, they are speculated to be mating calls. Only males have been recorded singing.
- Humpback whales are very acobactic. 'Breaching' is the term we use to describe their leaping out of the water behavior.
- One can only speculate the motivation for Humpback 'breaching' behavior - joy of life, playing games, or possibly something more pragmatic such as, loosening skin parasites or a form of communication.
- Humpback whales' life expectancy is 45 to 50 years.
- The range of Humpback whales is world-wide, but they are rarely seen in the Arctic Ocean.
- Baleen whales feed by swimming with their mouth open or by racing forward and gulping in water and fish.
- Humpback whales average about 48 feet, females are a few feet longer, and both weigh-in between 34 to 45 tons.
- Humpbacks feed on krill, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and plankton and will hunt for food only in cold waters.
- The baleen filters small animals down to 3/4" in length; they are retained as sea water flows through the closely set plates of baleen.
- Modern-day Nohah: James Bartley was swallowed by a 'Sperm Whale' in 1891 while whaling in the South Atlantic. He survived the ordeal.
- Humpback whales have 330 pairs of baleen plates.
- Humpback baleen are approximately 25 inches long and 13.5 inches wide.
- A whale's tail is composed of two lobes, each of which is called a fluke.
- Flukes are made of muscles and dense fibrous tissue.
- Whales use their flukes to propel themselves through the water. Whales move their flukes in a up and down motion; rather than like fish, which move their tails left and right.
- Whales have lungs. They breathe air into their lungs through their 'Blowholes'.
- Blowholes are located on the top or back of a whale's head, depending on species.
- Humpback whales' blowholes are located near the top of their heads.
- Humpbacks breathe approximately one or two times per minute while at rest, and four to eight times per minute after a exertive deep dive.
- A new born Humpback whale swims instinctively to the surface within ten seconds of its birth (aided by its mother's flippers).
- When in Alaska, Humpback whales tend to concentrate in several areas: SE Alaska, Prince William Sound, the area near Kodiak and the Barren Islands, the area between Semidi and Shumagin Islands, and the eastern Aleutian Islands and southern Bering Sea.
- Whales sleep approximately eight hours per day. They don't experience 'REM' sleep, instead they have to remain partially conscious to breathe. Apparently no 'sweet dreams' for these creatures.
- Whales engage in 'unihemispherical sleeping'; whereby, 1/2 their brain sleeps at a time.
- Blowholes are covered by musular flaps that keep water from entering (the blowhole) when the whale is submerged.
- Baleen whales have two blowholes which are located side by side.
- Whales cannot breath through their mouths. Their trachea (tube to their lungs) and esophagus (tube to the stomach) are totally separate.
- The exhaled air from their blowhole is called the 'blow'
- During their time in warm waters, adult Humpback whales do not eat; they live off their fat (blubber),and their calves feed on the mother's rich milk.
- Humpback whales that summer in Alaska are primarily from the Hawaiian stock of humpback whales.
- Humpback may stay submerged for up to thirty minutes; typically, most dive durations are no more than fifteen minutes.
photo by Duncan Murrell
- Humpback whales live near the surface of the ocean.
- The major predators of Humpback whales are Killer whales (orca), and humans.
- Individual humpbacks are identified by their fluke patterns.
- Bumps on their bodies are known as 'stovebolts'
- Since 1966 it has been illegal to hunt humpback whales.
- The term Mammalia stands for a Class of animals characterized by the following:
- Mammals breathe air with lungs.
- Mammals have a 4-chambered heart.
- Mammals, as a rule, bear their young alive.
- Mammals nurse their young with milk.
- Mammals, at some stage in their development, have hair.
- Mammals maintain a stable body temperate, independent of the external environmental temperature.
- Cetacea is the scientific term used to describe the Order of all whales.
- "Baleen Whale" is a common term for a suborder of whales including: blue, humpback, right, bowhead, pygmy, minke, sei, Bryde's and fin whales. The Scientific term for the suborder is Mysticeti.
- The term Mysticeti is derived from the Greek 'mystax' which means moustache (referring to the hairy apparence of the baleen plates, no doubt).
- Modern forms of mysticetes appear in the fossil record five to seven million years ago.
- Evolutionary scientists hypothesize that whales arose between 55 and 65 million years ago from now extinct land mammals that ventured back into the sea.
- Baleen whales (Mysticeti), have smooth skin surfaces with no pores or oil glands.
- The whale's smooth skin reduces 'drag' (water resistence), allowing whales to swim with greater ease through the water than furry animals.
- Baleen was referred to as 'Whalebone' by whalers who apparently thought it was made of bone material.
- Baleen whales retain tooth buds during the embryonic stage which disappear before birth.
- The songs of male humpback whales can be heard hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles away.
- Humpback calves ingest approximately one hundred pounds of milk per day.
- Humpback whales are classificed as an endangered species.
- By 1966 the population of humpback whales in the north Pacific had been reduced to approximately one thousand (1000) individual whales.
- Humpback whales, in the Alaskan waters, feed primarily on herring, krill (euphausiids) and other small schooling fish.
- The Family Balaenopteridae (Rorqual) whales includes: Blue whale, Bryde's whale, fin whale, humpback whale, Minke whale, and sei whale.
- A whale's ponderous size extends a metabolic advantage since the large body core produces metabolic heat surrounded by a relatively small external area of skin exposed to the ambient outside temperature. The skin conducts heat into the outside environment.
- Baleen whale's skin is approximately .02 to .03 inches thick.
- A whale's body fat (blubber) is a reserve of energy stored for periods of non-eating during mating season in warm water (tropical) environments.
- Humpback whales reach puberty between in their fourth to seventh year of life.
- During the twienth century more than 23,000 humpback whales were 'harvested' in the north Pacific ocean before they were granted protection by law.
- Baleen whale's throats are only a few inches in diameter.
- The Latin name for humpback whales is 'megaptera novaengliae' which means Great Wing.
- The Humpback whale's pectoral fins (flippers) are serrated along their front edge.
- Baleen grows throughout a whale's life.
- The arteries that supply the flukes with blood are surrounded by veins to maintain the whale's temperature.
- An average sized humpback whale will consume between 4,500 and 5,500 pounds of food each day while feeding in cold waters.
- Humpback whales eat twice per day.
- 'Lobtailing' is a term used to describe humpback whale's slapping the water with their tail.
- One can only speculate the reasoning for 'Lobtailing': communicating danger, play, pleasure, or hygiene.
- Humpback whales are black or dark gray, except for a white patches on flukes and ventral surfaces.
- Baleen plates range from white (or yellow) to black, depending on the species of whale.
- Unlike Baleen whales, Odontoceti (toothed) whales have only one blowhole.
- The term 'Odontoceti' comes from the Greek words Odontos (tooth) + Ketos (whale)
- The order 'Cetacean' is a latin word meaning "large sea animal" All whales belong to this Order.
- The order 'Cetacean' is subdivided into two groups. Mysticeti (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed whales).
- There are approximately 65 kinds of Odontoceti whales.
- Scientists have created five main groups of Odontoceti whales: (1) beaked whales, (2) belugas and narwhales, (3) dolphins and porpoises, (4) river dolphins, and (5) sperm whales.
- The Orca whale is also known as the 'killer whale'
- Orca belong to the group of marine mammals known as dolphins (family=Delphinidae)
- Orca feed on just about any marine animal available.
- The Orca's diet consists of sea lions, seals, penguins, turtles, octopus, squid, fish, pinnipeds, otters, sharks, marine birds,and even other whales, such as the blue whale, humpback whale, beaked whale, and dolphins and porpoises.
- Killer whales are at the top of their marine-food chain, their only predator is humans.
- The scientific order Cetacea is divided into three suborders: Odontoceti, Mysticeti, and Archaeoceti. The Archaeoceti is based on fossil record; it is an extinct suborder.
- The killer whale is not an endangered species.
- Male killer whales size ranges between twenty-two and twenty-seven feet long, and weigh between 8,000 and 12,000 pounds, on the average.
- Unlike the Humpback whale, Orca males are larger than their female counterpart.
photo by Duncan Murrell
- Killer whales have a sleek and streamlined body.
- The killer whale's teeth are conical and interlocking; they are designed for grasping and tearing, rather than chewing.
- The Orca can attain speeds up to thirty miles per hour (mph).
- Killer whales often feed cooperatively in packs (pods); attacking and tearing away at their prey at different angles.
- The orca whales' dorsal (having to do with the back of the body) fins are comprised of dense, fibrous connective tissue, just like their flukes.
- The adult (male) orca's dorsal fin is larger than its female counterparts dorsal fin.
- The male orca's dorsal fin reaches heights as much as six feet tall, while the adult female's dorsal fin attains heights as mush as four feet tall.
- The Orca's dorsal fin serves as a longitudinal stabilizer (keel) during swimming.
- Killer whales have one (1) blowhole located on the dorsal surface of the head.
- Killer whales have reached depths of up to 900 feet, but typically dive to depth of 100 to 200 feet. They remain underwater twenty minutes or longer.
- Killer whales do not breathe underwater; they hold their breath.
- The size of an orca pod varies from less than five individuals to thirty or more.
- Adult killer whales consume between 3-4% of their body weight in food each day.
- Killer whales are 'opportunistic predators'; meaning, their diet varies regionally, preying on whatever is relatively abundant and easy to access.
- Killer whales do not masticate (chew) their food; they swallow their prey whole or in large chunks.
- There is some evidence of cannibalism amongst Killer whales.
- There are stories of 'friendly' killer whales that enjoy human companionship.
- Killer whales may 'beach' themselves (swim onto a beach) to attack sealions or seals.
- Killer whales have an acute sense of hearing; their auditory cortex is highly developed.
- Toothed whales (Odontoceti) lack a sense of smell.
- Killer whales have glands in the inner corner of their eyes that secrete an oily mucus. This mucus lubricates their eyes and washes away potentially harmful debris.
- Researchers are able to identify individuals within a killer whale pod by their distinctive dorsal fin and saddle.
- The number of teeth varies among individual orca, but usually they have between 40 and 58 teeth.
- Killer whales are sensitive to touch. As observed at 'sea parks' where orca whales perform with humans; they seem to enjoy getting petted.
- Orca social groups (pods) are female-dominated.
- Killer whale behaviors include: breaching (jumping out of the water), lobtailing (slapping their flukes on the water's surface), spyhopping (swimming vertically with their head partially out of the water), and pec-slapping (slapping their pectoral flipper on the water's surface).
Additional Resources:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Wildlife Notebook
Humpback Whales Ocra Whales Slideshows Back to Previous Page
