Humpback+whale



 [][] Animal: Animal Group: Description of animal group || Humpback Whale (//Megaptera novaeangliae)// Mammal Mammals have hair, are warm blooded and give birth to live babies. || Observation Describe your animal
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|| Humpback Whale is a large mammle that lives in the Ocean. Adults range in length from 12–16 metres (40–50 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms. The humpback whale is a baleen whale and a rorqual whale that sings amazing songs. It performs complex and cooperative feeding techniques. The humpback has a bulky head with bumpy protuberances (tubercles), each with a bristle. Humpbacks are acrobats of the ocean, [|breaching] and slapping the water. They live in [|pods] and have 2 blowholes. The name humpback describes the motion it makes as it arches its back out of the water in preparation for a dive. Humpback whales grow to be about 52 feet (16 m) long, weighing 30-50 tons (27-45 tonnes). The females are slightly larger than males, as with all baleen whales. The four-chambered heart of the average humpback whale weighs about 430 pounds (195 kg) - about as much as three average adult human beings. The body is black on the dorsal (upper) side, and mottled black and white on the ventral (under) side. || Describe how your animal behaves (moves, flies, runs) ||  Humpback whales normally swim 3-9 mph (4.8-14 kph), but can go up to 15-16.5 mph (24-26.5 kph) in bursts when in danger. Feeding speeds are slower, about 1.2-3.5 mph. || ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||  ||  ||  || Where it lives ||  Humpback whales live at the surface of the ocean, both in the open ocean and shallow coastline waters. When not migrating, they prefer shallow waters. They migrate from warm tropical waters where they breed and calve to arctic waters where they eat. || What it eats How it eats ||  Humpback whales feed on krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, and various kinds of small fish. Each whale eats up to 1 and 1/2 tons (1,361 kg) of food a day. As a baleen whale, it has a series of 270-400 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, where teeth might otherwise be located. These plates consist of a fingernail-like material called keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends inside the mouth near the tongue. The plates are black and measure about 30 inches (76 cm) in length. During feeding, large volumes of water and food can be taken into the mouth because the pleated grooves in the throat expand. As the mouth closes water is expelled through the baleen plates, which trap the food on the inside near the tongue to be swallowed. || How does it have babies? How does it care for its babies? How long do they live? ||  Humpback whales reach sexual maturity at 6-10 years of age or when males reach the length of 35 feet (11.6 m) and females reach 40 feet (12 m). Each female typically bears a calf every 2-3 years and the gestation period is 12 months. A humpback whale calf is between 10-15 feet (3-4.5 m) long at birth, and weighs up to 1 ton (907 kg). It nurses frequently on the mother's rich milk, which has a 45% to 60% fat content. The calf is weaned to solid food when it is about a year old. Humpback can live to there atleast 50 ||   || || What does it do during the day and night? || They swim, rest and feed. || How has it changed over time in Antarctica? ||  T hese marine mammals are superbly adapted to a life of swimming and diving, and are playful and inquisitive by nature. || One of the first attempts to hunt the humpback whale was made by [|John Smith] in 1614 off the coast of [|Maine]. Opportunistic killing of the species is likely to have occurred long before, and it continued with increasing pace in the following centuries. By the 18th century, they had become a common target for whalers. By the 19th century, many nations (the [|United States] in particular), were hunting the animal heavily in the [|Atlantic Ocean], and to a lesser extent in the [|Indian] and [|Pacific Oceans]. It was, however, the introduction of the [|explosive harpoon] in the late 19th century that allowed whalers to accelerate their take. This, along with hunting beginning in the [|Antarctic Ocean] in 1904, led to a sharp decline in most whale populations. It is estimated that during the 20th century at least 200,000 humpbacks were taken, reducing the global population by over 90%, with the population in the North Atlantic estimated to have dropped to as low as 700 individuals.[|[26]] || Type in the content of your page here.
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 * **Other Facts:** ||  T he humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae is aptly named from the Greek megas meaning great and pteron, a wing, because of its huge wing like flippers. ||
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