Humpback whale how fast

These complex sequences of moans, howls, and cries can last for hours and travel vast distances through the ocean. As it is the male that produces the long complex songs females have shorter vocalisations , and these are produced during the breeding season, it is speculated that they may function to attract females.

It could also act as a challenge to other males. This may help them to avoid predators and big males. Humpback whales are by nature mostly gentle and non-aggressive animals, so it is very unlikely for them to do any harm to a human. They are however very large and curious and will sometimes approach boats. Due to their acrobatic tendencies its is possible for them to breach and strike boats, and there was a case in of a Canadian woman who was killed when a breaching humpback whale landed on the snorkelling tour boat she was on.

This is however extremely rare as humpbacks tend to be aware of their surroundings and avoid direct contact with boats and swimming humans. Home Animal Facts Mammals 10 fascinating facts about humpback whales. The baleen plates of a feeding humpback whale.

A group of humpback whales bubble netting in Alaska. Vintage engraving showing Whalers attacking a whale with a harpoon, 19th Century. Within 30 minutes of its birth the baby whale can swim.

The newborn calf is about 14 feet long 4. The mother and calf may stay together for a year or longer. Calves drink pounds of milk each day. Humpback whales reach puberty at years old, and maturity at 15 years. A calf is born to a female every years. Scientists are studying these sounds to decipher their meaning.

It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates. Humpback calves are known to "whisper" to their mothers. Listen to a humpback whale song and explore what it looks like as sheet music. These baleen whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton, and small fish.

Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the Equator.

Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appear to be gestures of affection. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood.

Calves do not stop growing until they are 10 years old. Humpbacks are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fins, called flukes, to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it. These whales, like others, regularly leap from the water, landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists aren't sure if this breaching behavior serves some purpose, such as cleaning pests from the whale's skin, or whether whales simply do it for fun. How scientists are unlocking the hidden world of whale culture.

A favorite of whale watchers, humpbacks also slap the water with their flukes and pectoral fins, rise nose-first out of the water called "spyhopping" , and do penduncle throws, a behavior unique to this species in which they raise their entire rear torso and tail out of the water, twist, and slam their lower half down onto the ocean surface.

Rarer displays include flapping their fins like wings and occasionally gathering in "super groups" of as many as , though scientists don't know why. Humpbacks mostly dine on small fish, krill tiny crustaceans and plankton. To eat prey, they take large gulps of water. Below the mouth are 12 to 36 throat grooves that expand to hold the water.

The baleens filter the water, and the two blowholes on the whale's back expel the water. The fish and other goodies remain in the whale for digestion. These whales hunt and feed in the summer, and they will fast during mating season and live off the blubber reserves so they can focus on migration and mating, according to Whale Facts. A hunting method unique to humpbacks is called bubble netting.

Humpbacks hunt in groups and use air bubbles to herd, corral or disorient fish. Humpbacks can eat up to 3, lbs. A female humpback has a baby every two to three years. She carries her young for a gestation period of about 12 months, according to the ACS. Babies, called calves, are born live, like most mammals.

The newborns are between 10 and 15 feet 3 to 4. The calves nurse for almost a year. Their mother's milk is 45 to 60 percent fat content, according to the ACS.

Calves can drink about gallons liters of milk per day. Though they double their length in the first year, calves keep growing until they are 10 years old. Humpbacks are one of 12 species of baleen whales , characterized by their baleen plates and paired blowholes, according to NOAA Fisheries. They are also called rorqual whales. Rorqual whales are relatively streamlined and have pointed heads and fins.