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Species of Special Concern
Status
Alaska endangered species; Federal endangered species
Description
Humpback whales are baleen whales, with stocky bodies and flat, broad heads. Full-grown males average 42 feet in length and weigh about 25 tons. Females are larger, averaging 45 feet in length and weighing about 35 tons. Grooves run along the underside of humpbacks from their chins to their navels. Their upper bodies are black or blue-black. Their flippers, grooved undersides, flanks, and underside of the flukes can be white or black, depending on geographical race and individual variation. Their flippers are long and wing-like with bumps on the front edges on which barnacles grow. They have paired blowholes on the midline of their heads. Their tail flukes are large, notched, and have an irregularly shaped edge.
Habitats and Habits
Humpback whales can be found in a wide range of ocean habitats from the waters surrounding tropical islands to shallow waters off continental coasts. They are seasonal feeders, building up body fat reserves in the summer then migrating to warmer subtropical areas during the winter breeding season. In the summer, they inhabit waters from southern California throughout the Gulf of Alaska to the southern Chukchi Sea. In Alaska, humpbacks feed mostly on krill and small fish, such as herring or capelin. Some individuals feed in the same areas year after year.
Causes of Decline
There were an estimated 15,000 humpback whales in the North Pacific prior to mechanized commercial whaling. Today scientists estimate there are 1,000 to 1,200. Humpbacks were taken throughout their range, depleting all populations. No other factors are known to have contributed to their decline.
Range of the Humpback Whale in Alaskan watersResearch and Recovery
Research focuses on estimating population size and following individual whales over many years to gather reproductive and behavioral information. Scientists do not know whether the population is increasing or decreasing.
Text: Tamra Faris
For Additional Information
Please contact:
Doug Vincent-Lang
(907) 267-2339
