Printable Information On Humpback Whale

A humpback whale calf is between 10-15 feet (3-4.5 m) long at birth, and weighs up to 1 ton (907 kg). It nurs-es frequently on the mother's rich milk, which has a 45% to 60% fat content. Humpback whales are a favorite of whale watchers―they are often active, jumping out of the water and slapping the surface with their pectoral fins or tails.

NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to the conservation of humpback whales. Our scientists use a variety of innovative techniques to study, protect, and disentangle humpback whales. Learn facts about the humpback whale's habitat, diet, life history, and more.

They role-play as humpback whales to learn about how whales are designed for life in the ocean. Students label the external body features on a diagram of a humpback whale, and create anatomically correct humpback whale models. The bumps and nicks of the tail fluke and its pattern of black and white vary between each humpback whale, and so is an efective way for scientists to identify individuals.

Interestingly, female humpback whales are typically larger than the males. What's their lifecycle? Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliaeFact sheet.

The conservation status of humpback whale is now rated Least Concern (IUCN). Once heavily exploited by whaling, their population reduced by >90%. They have been protected in the North Atlantic since 1955, and worldwide from 1966.

Current threats to humpbacks include entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, and disturbance from underwater noise. Humpback Whale The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a found worldwide in tropical, temperate and subpolar waters, and can commonly be seen feeding in shallow waters along the southern coast of Alaska. In the North Pacific, humpback whales migrate from winter breeding grounds near Japan, Hawaii or Mexico to summer feeding grounds from Washington to as far north as the Chukchi Sea.

The humpback whale is one of the rorquals, a family that also includes the blue whale, fin whale, Bryde's whale, sei whale, and minke whale. Rorquals have two characteristics in common: dorsal fins on their backs, and ventral pleats running from the tip of the lower jaw back to the belly area. The shape and color pattern on the humpback whale's dorsal fin and flukes (tail) are as individual in.