Humpback Whales

Their scientific name is Megaptera novaeangliae.
They travel the great distance of 10,000 kilometers or 6,213.71192 miles. There are different ‘branches’ of humpback whales and they usually follow the same migratory route-1) Hawaii to Alaska and the western coast of the Americas, 2)The eastern seaboard has a group that moves down to the Carribbean and up to Maine, and then3) the Antarctic and Australian group.

Humpback whales eat a ton of food a day (literally), usually krill, plankton, sand lance (in Maine) and other small fish- herring, mackerel, and squid. Krill, which are very small only 6 centimeters or 2.36220472 inches long, have large eyes for such a small body and are mostly clear but have a reddish orange section on their back. They can breed more than once during the season and they can lay up to 10,000 eggs at once.

Although these whales are big(max 16 Meters or 55 feet and Weigh 40 tons or 80,000 lbs), they are not the biggest whale.

Shortly after Europe colonized Australia the Humpbacks were hunted for their oil and baleen (or ‘whalebone’). Harpoon guns and steam-driven whaling boats made hunting more efficient and cause d the humpback o come very close to extinction. They have made a strong comeback.



Humpback calves stay with their mother for 11-12 months, but during this time, they are often attacked by killer whales or sharks. Although we heard there was a calf born in the Sydney Harbor while we were there, we did not actually get to see it.

Humpback whales can be identified from the shore by their ‘blow’- the spray of water when the come up to breathe,

photo by http://www.mersea.com/humpback_info_page_2.htm 

by the shape of their back when they ‘surface’,

by their ‘fluke’ or tail,

Photo from http://www.uq.edu.au/whale/humpback-whales

by their pectoral fin or when they ‘wave’,

and of course if they ‘breach’ the water- or jump- it is easy to tell what kind of whale you are seeing.

(photo by http://www.familyadventuretravelworks.com/tag/humpback-whales )

We saw all of these except the breach.

It was an unexpected treat to see these whales as we were driving down the Great Coastal Highway. Photos are ours, unless otherwise noted.

NOTE: My apologies to Beej for not posting this report earlier. I just missed it.  And as an addendum, we can now see whales from our balcony - Unbelievable! Stay tuned for more... Mom