HUMPBACK WHALE

REPRODUCTION

Humpback whales reach sexual maturity when they are 5 to 10 years old. Adult females will bear a calf roughly every 2 to 3 years. Occasionally, two calves are born at a time. Courtship and breeding takes place exclusively in warmer waters during winter months

DIET

Humpback whales filter-feed on small crustaceans (mostly krill) and small fish, consuming up to around 900 kilograms of food per day. Humpbacks use several techniques to help them herd, corral, and disorient prey, including using bubbles, sounds, the seafloor, and even their pectoral fins

PREDATORS

Predators of humpbacks include killer whales (orcas), false killer whales, and large sharks; however, there have been very few documented attacks by these predators on humpback whales, including calves

DISTRIBUTION

Humpback whales live in polar and tropical waters, particularly those of the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans. Their range also includes the waters of the Bering Sea and the waters surrounding Antarctica

HABITAT

Humpback whales live along the coasts of all oceans, occasionally swimming close to shore, even into harbours and rivers. They undertake long migrations between polar feeding grounds in summer and tropical or subtropical breeding grounds in winter

The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. It is one of the larger rorqual species. The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head