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| The humpback whale, among
the largest of predators, has no teeth.
It feeds on shrimp like creatures and small fish,
straining them out of it's huge maw with its brush-like baleen plates.
This allows the
whale to efficiently capture large quantities of small prey items.
>Whale Song 1
>Whale Song 2
>Whale Song 3 |
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| Humpbacks usually give birth every two or
three years. The gestation period is about 12 months. At birth, a humpback calf is 12 to 14 feet long. When it is weaned in less than a year, it is
twice that length and many times the weight. Whale calves stay close to
their mothers for protection, nursing, and learning to survive in the hostile sea. |
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| To scientists they are members of
the order of Cetacea. To the public, they can be as different as the graceful Atlantic
spotted dolphin or the friendly, warty humpback whale.
An adult humpback can weigh over 40 tons.
Maturity
is reached a about 7 years, and the humpback can live more than 50 years. |
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Humpbacks are perhaps the most acrobatic of
whales, leaping out of the sea with only two or three flips of their mighty flukes.
Despite their fishlike form and total
commitment to living in the sea, whales and dolphins are mammals. They breathe air, bear
their young live, and have hair.
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| It is in the warm
water that male humpbacks sing. Their
songs are complex repeated patterns of sounds that occur in complete sequences, and may
last from six to thirty minutes.
Humpbacks use the same songs, composed of
moans, belches, yelps and high frequency chirps, for about a year.
During this time many variations
are played to the point that the original theme may be changed, and the next season of
singing may be quite different. |
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