Humpback Whales

Subject : Environment

Section : Species in news

Concept :

Recent studies on eastern Australian humpback whale population have shown behavioural plasticity in mating strategies can increase a population’s ability to cope with anthropogenic impacts.
It was found that as male density increased over time, the use of mating tactics shifted towards more males engaging in non-singing physical competition over singing.

Humpback whales

The humpback whale is one of the four species of baleen whales.
They are large, toothless whales that have baleen plates to filter their prey from seawater.
They have streamlined bodies ranging from 6 to 33 m in length., reaching up to 17 m in length and over 30,000 kg in weight.
Humpback whales occur worldwide in all major oceans. While they generally demonstrate a preference for continental shelf areas, they are also known to cross deep offshore waters, and spend time over and around seamounts in the open ocean.
IUCN Status : Least Concern.

Migration

Humpback whales with the exception of the Endangered Arabian Sea population perform some of the longest migrations of any whale species, swimming up to 10,000 km each year.
They migrate because they feed and breed in very different places.
In the Southern Hemisphere, humpback whales spend the summer in the cold waters of Antarctica, feeding on Antarctic krill, which are small shrimp-like crustaceansAnimals with a hard outer body made up of different sections e.g., crabs, prawns, barnacles. which live in large groups called swarms.
In the wintertime, humpbacks migrate north to mate and give birth in warmer, sub-tropical waters.
The Arabian Sea humpback whales are the only sedentary whales in the world, feeding and breeding in the same area.