In 1804, Bernard Germain de Lacépède shifted the humpback from the family Balaenidae, renaming it B. In 1781, Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its Latin equivalent, Balaena novaeangliae. The humpback was first identified as baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Regnum Animale of 1756. Numbers have partially recovered to some 135,000 animals worldwide, while entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to affect the species. Humans once hunted the species to the brink of extinction its population fell to around 5,000 by the 1960s. Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. Orcas are the main natural predators of humpback whales. They are promiscuous breeders, with both sexes having multiple partners. During the wintertime, they rely on their blubber storage for their energy. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish, and they use bubbles to catch prey. They feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Males produce a complex song typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes.įound in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 16,000 km (9,900 mi) each year. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. ![]() Adults range in length from 14–17 m (46–56 ft) and weigh up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons). ![]() It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus Megaptera. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale.
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