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Whale Watching
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Facts About
Whales
Found in all the oceans of the world, whales are members of the Cetacea order of marine mammals, which also includes Dolphins and Porpoises. Toothed Whales (Odontoceti) are predators eating a variety of marine wildlife, wheras Baleen Whales (Mysticeti) have a filter called a baleen used to sieve tiny food particles from the water.
- Scientists estimate that during feeding season, larger baleen whales eat approxinately 4 percent of their body size!
- Humpback whales sometimes blow “bubble nets” to help them feed. This is done when the whale dives down and then swims in a spiral while releasing air from the blowholes. Doing this creates bubbles which form a tubular net. The whale gets in the center of the bubble to eat the trapped prey. Several humpbacks can come up through the bubble net at one time to feed.
- The largest baleen whale is the blue whale. It is said that blue whales are the largest creatures - bigger than anything living or extinct.
- Baleen whales use their flippers to steer and their flukes (tails) to stop.
- Of the larger whales Blue, Fin and Sei Whales, the fastest can swim up to 18.6 miles per hour.
- Whales shed! Yes, it’s true; all whales shed. The Beluga whale, for example, sheds when it migrates to the North Pole. By rubbing against rocks, its old, yellowed skin comes off in large sheets, revealing new white skin underneath.
- Whales are Flexible. Because water, not the whale’s skeleton, supports its body, whale bones are light, flexible and spongy. (This is also why whales can grow so large.) Fat and oil in the bones enhance floating.
- Whales have been known to live as long as 100 years.
- Whales don’t actually sleep; they take catnaps. While one half of the brain is sleeping, the other signals it to come to the surface to breathe and keeps it alert to predators.
- Much like human fingerprints, the markings on each whale’s
tail are unique. This helps researchers identify and study them.
Whale Behaviour
The Blow: The first sign that whales are around
is usually the blow. A humpback breathes through the blow hole on top
of its head. When it expels its breath, the resulting burst of air and
water vapour can be seen for as far away as two kilometres on a clear
day. The breath rushes out at speeds up to 450 kph and can go up to
a height of 5 metres. It has a fishy smell and has sufficient oil content
to put an unpleasant smear of oil on a camera lens if a photographer
gets too close.
Breaching: A much more spectacular way of announcing its presence
is for a whale to breach. With 2 or 3 beats of its huge tail the creature
hurls itself up through the surface sometimes clearing the water completely,
and then falls on its back with a tremendous splash. Breaching is thought
to communicate position to others. The splash can be heard for several
kilometres.
Calves: A humpback calf normally swims along in close company
with its mother.
Head Lunge: When a whale breaks the surface and falls forward
instead of backward the action is called a head lunge.
Spy Hop: Humpbacks are curious, and often pop their head up above
the waterline to look around. The creature raises its head vertically
from the water until the eyes are exposed, maintains that position for
a short period of time and then lowers its head back into the water.
This common behaviour is thought to be used mainly for orientating themselves
with the shoreline during migration.
Pectoral Fin Extension: Humpbacks are often seen waving their
huge oar-like fins above the water. The creature lies on the surface
and lifts one or both of its pectoral fins up out of the water depending
on body position. Once extended, the fins can be waved about.
Tail Extension: Sometimes humpbacks are seen with their tail
flukes extended above the water for up to 15 minutes at a time. This
behaviour is rare but could be to do with feeding, as a calf is often
seen bobbing around its mother's tail at this time.
Tail Slapping: Whales like to lift their huge tails high above
the water and slap them down on the surface making a tremendous splash.
This can be heard for great distances by others and is probably associated
with marking position. Because of the formidable power of the tail,
this behaviour should be interpreted as aggressive and the creature
should be given plenty of room.
Peduncle Slap: The peduncle is the muscular part of the body
nearest to the tail flukes. It is used in a variation of the tail slap
where the tail is slapped in a sideways movement like a massive karate-chop.
This movement is a sure sign that the creature could become aggressive.
Tail Cocking: Tail cocking is another sign of aggression that
is used when stressed. An aggressor can cock its tail up in the air
and then bring it down heavily on an opponent in a disagreement over
territory. Humans should keep well clear.
Tail Slash and Tail Swish: Two further movements of the tail
involve slashing from side to side in the water and swishing on the
surface to create turbulence. Both these activities are also associated
with aggression. Crews of whale watching boats watch for these behaviours
as signs to move away.
Pectoral Stroking: Pectoral fins are the equivalent of human
hands. They are frequently used to stroke the body of another of the
same species, probably during courtship and mating. Mothers and calves
also stroke one another as a display of closeness.
Pec Slapping: The humpback has the largest pectoral
fins of any of the great whales. The fins alone can weigh up to several
tonnes! When brought down onto the water from the extended position
they create a forceful splash which can be heard from quite a distance,
both above and below the surface. Pec slapping is a common behaviour
among humpbacks, thought to be used as a form of communication.
Humpback Whales
Humpbacks are 50- to 55-foot long, dark-colored with distinctive bumps on their noses. Their pectoral flippers are long, nearly a third of their body length.
- Adult humpbacks weigh up to 45 tonnes
- Adults are 10 to 15 metres in length
- An adult can eat up to a tonne of krill per day
- Humpback calves weigh around one tonne
- Calves consume 600 litres of milk per day
At the time that hunting of the humpbacks finally ceased numbers had shrunk to little more than 500. The humpbacks now boast a population of around 4,500. Each year their migration during the winter months takes them from the feeding waters of the Antarctic north along the Australian coast to breed and give birth to new calves in the warm waters off the Whitsundays.
Humpback whales take their name from their habit of exposing a large central area of their backs when diving, as they do repeatedly when swimming along near the water surface.
Humpbacks are baleen whales which means they feed by straining their food from seawater through a series of plates on their upper jaws. They strain out plankton and very small crustaceans called krill from the water.
Humpbacks are also known to be curious, and are renowned for swimming up really close to whale watching boats where they poke their heads out of the water to get a good look at the humans.
They are the fifth largest animal on this planet, growing to a size equivalent to 11 elephants or 600 humans each ! Humpbacks are the most acrobatic of all of the great whales displaying a wide variety of leaping, rolling and breaching movements which provide fascinating viewing for whale watching humans. Adult humpbacks have been seen to breach 20 - 30 times in succession, averaging only 10 seconds between breachings. Humpbacks are also known for their complex underwater vocalisations or whale songs particularly during breeding.
According to marine biologists, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) spend the warmer summer months in Antarctic waters feeding on krill. As winter approaches they start their annual migration north to the central and southern Great Barrier Reef. Calves are born in the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef and then commence their first migration with their mothers back to Antarctica. Many migrating humpback whales stop off at Platypus Bay, a warm, shallow, sheltered bay on the eastern side of Hervey Bay, up against the northern tip of Fraser Island. Fraser Island is a World Heritage listed area for many other reasons, but it is because of the humpback whales that Platypus Bay is part of the Hervey Bay Marine Park
Growing to a length of 15 metres, humpback whales can weigh up to 45 tonnes. They have a massive head that they are fond of popping high up out of the water to get a good one-eyed look at the humans. This behaviour is known as a spy-hop. Along the underside of their body they have up to 22 throat pleats running from their chins to their navel. Yes, whales do have a navel because, as mammals, they were once attached to their mother by an umbilical cord. These cetaceans have a very rough and ragged appearance once you get up close, with many knobs and lumps on their skin, liberally interspersed with barnacles.
Other outstanding features of the humpbacks' appearance
are their huge pectoral fins which can be up to a third the length of
their entire body, and their huge tail flukes. These body-parts are
featured in some of the most interesting of whale behaviours: pectoral
fin extension, pec slapping, and tail slapping.
"Humpbacks measure from 30-60 feet and weigh up to 40 tons. Their large, winglike flippers can extend to 14 feet. Very energetic, they often leap clear of the water, spin, or slap their fluke or flipper on the water’s surface. They’re also very vocal, “singing” a long series of repeated phrases."
Minke Whales
The Minke whale has a slender streamlined body with a
pointed head, and it's blow has been described as inconspicuous. Colours
of Minke whales are bluish grey on top and white underneath. Small compared
to other whales, Minke's are 25 to 30 feet long. They sometimes have
pale trapezoidal stripes behind the flippers on the top, and always
have a characteristic white band on each flipper. They live in all the
oceans of the world. Marine biologists report that the Minkes which
migrate to the Antarctic feed on krill, but those that migrate to the
Arctic waters feed mainly on small fish.
"Minkes are the smallest baleen (non-toothed) whale
in North American waters. They grow from 15-35 feet and weigh up to
10 tons. They often approach whale watch vessels and seem to enjoy leaping
clear of the water’s surface."
Orcas
Despite its size and common name "Killer Whale", the Orca is, in fact, the largest dolphin, and is more closely related to smaller dolphins than to the 'great' whales. Orca is found in all oceans and seas of the world, from the deepest waters to the coast.
Orcas have a striking colour combination: the main colour is black, but there is the addition of a grey 'saddle' behind the dorsal, and a brilliant white that covers three areas. The head is rounded, with an indistinct beak, inside of which are 10-12 pairs of large teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. The male Orca's dorsal fin is a tell-tale giveaway, being as tall as a man and shaped like a huge triangle.
Orcas are fearsome predators, known to hunt in pods to
kill and eat seals, dugongs, fish, turtles, squid, seabirds, and even
the massive Humpback and Blue Whales.
Blue Whales
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest known animal ever to live on sea or land. Individuals can reach more than 33 metres (110 feet) and weigh nearly 180 tonnes (200 tons). This is more than the weight of 50 adult elephants!
The blue whale's blood vessels are so big that a full grown trout could swim through them to its heart, which is the size of a small car.
Blue-grey in color, with light grey mottling, they're
long and streamlined, with a very small dorsal fin and long, thin pectoral
flippers. Blue whales are sighted near California's
Channel Islands.
Grey Whales
The entire population of grey whales (over 20,000) swim past the west coast twice a year, traveling between summer feeding in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and their nursery and breeding grounds in California, and Baja Mexico. Grey whales are medium-sized, up to 45 feet long. Their dark, slate grey skin is covered with white patches caused by barnacles and parasites. They have no dorsal or back fin. Sighted along the entire West Coast.
Finback Whales
Finbacks are also called “razorbacks” for their sharp dorsal fins. They are the second largest of all whales, usually measuring 65-70 feet long and weighing up to 60 tons. They can swim up to 70 miles per hour and dive deeper than some other baleen whales.
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