Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale. New London Waterfront Park.

Average length 50 feet , Average weight 50 tons

, Humpback whales are named for their characteristic swimming style, in which their arched, or humped, backs lift out of the water. Two distinct features of the humpback are clearly visible in the etching on the concrete pier: curved lower jaws, which contain a series of clearly visible throat grooves or folds, and the many knobs evident on the body and flippers. Another outstanding characteristic of this species is the extraordinarily long, narrow flippers, which may be nearly one third of the total length of the animal., Whales are "cetaceans": seagoing mammals that have hair, breathe air, are warm-blooded, bear live young who drink their mother's milk. Humpbacks do not have teeth. They have large comb-like structures , baleen , that hang from their upper jaws and strain prey from the seawater. They feed on "krill" , small shrimp-like crustaceans , and other kinds of small fish. They eat up to one and a half tons of food a day., Humpbacks are acrobatic and social animals. They are known to slap their long flippers and powerful tails on the water's surface. They will also "breach" or completely leap out of the water and fall back in a sea of foam. This makes them a favorite for whale-watching cruises. Humpbacks also sing long complex songs that may be repeated over and over for hours at a time. It is thought that these behaviors are an important part of communication between humpbacks., The humpback whale was one of five species normally pursued by whalers from New London and New England. The most important of the five was the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) made famous in the classic American novel Moby Dick. The others were the right, gray and bowhead whales., Found in all of the oceans of the world, humpbacks typically feed in the polar regions in the summer and then migrate to warm, tropical breeding waters in the winter. They are listed as an endangered species and since 1966 have been protected from hunting by the International Whaling Commission (IWC)., (Megaptera novaeangliae)