The adult whales feed on krill
in polar regions during the summer, but do not eat throughout the
winter when they are migrating, calving, and breeding—instead subsisting
on their fat stores, known as blubber.
Migration can cover 6,000 miles. Most humpback whales in the Northern
Hemisphere migrate to Hawaii, and populations from the Southern
Hemisphere travel to eastern Australia
In the warm, shallow waters, females give birth and males compete for
their attention, often swimming alongside female whales and their
calves as escorts.
Whales generally stay in pods of two to three (female, calf, and
escort), but can be seen in larger groups in breeding areas when males
congregate to compete for females—called a “competition pod.”
Each individual whale has a tail, or fluke, as unique as a fingerprint. No two flukes are alike, which makes the whales easy to track.
Humpbacks can often be seen breaching, or propelling themselves out
of the water, with their powerful flukes. This is thought to serve the
purpose of knocking parasites off of their skin. The whales are known
for having ride-alongs: They are called humpbacks because of the
barnacles frequently seen attached to their skin.
Male humpback whales create new songs
every season, and entire areas pick up on the them—meaning there may be
tens of thousands of humpbacks singing the same sequences of notes.
source: nationalgeographic.com
source: nationalgeographic.com
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