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Home/Species/ Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

(Borowski, 1781)

Humpback Whale

G4Apparently Secure Found in 82 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
PS:E,TESA Status
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105599
Element CodeAMAGH02010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
CITESAppendix I
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderCetacea
FamilyBalaenopteridae
GenusMegaptera
USESAPS:E,T
COSEWICPS:SC
Other Common Names
Rorcual Jorobado (ES) Rorqual à bosse (FR)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Taxonomic Comments
Analyses by McGowen et al. (2020) found that the genus Balaenoptera is polyphyletic with both Eschrichtius and Megaptera nested within the genus.

Clapham et al. (1993) reported that available evidence supports the hypothesis that the western North Atlantic population can be considered a single panmictic population; individuals from different high-latitude feeding areas intermix in the breeding range. However, Allen et al. (1994) found that "regional differences in fluke pigmentation suggest that the western North Atlantic population includes a number of relatively isolated subunits, as suggested previously by photoidentification and DNA studies."

Within Mexico, whales wintering off the Revillagigedo Islands are weakly but significantly differentiated genetically from those along the American Pacific coast (Medrano-Gonzalez et al. 1995).

MtDNA data indicate that several distinctive stocks exist in the Southern Hemisphere, with a low level of gene flow among them; also, shared identical nucleotypes occur in the Northern and Southern hemispheres (Baker et al. 1998).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-04
Change Date2008-11-26
Edition Date2011-04-06
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Rank Reasons
Large worldwide range extends throughout all oceans; depleted by past overharvesting; population size now exceeds 60,000 and has increased over the past several decades; vulnerable to marine pollution, disturbance by boat traffic, and entanglement in fishing gear, but these are not major threats, and the species is now apparently secure.
Range Extent Comments
Range encompasses the world's oceans from the subtropics to high latitudes. All subpopulations (except the one in the Arabian Sea) migrate between mating and calving grounds in tropical/subtropical waters, usually near continental coastlines or island groups, and productive colder waters in temperate and high latitudes (Reilly et al. 2008).
Threat Impact Comments
Historically, populations were greatly reduced by commercial whaling. Humpback whales have been protected from commercial whaling worldwide since 1966, and there have been few catches since 1968 (Reilly et al. 2008). The species remains vulnerable to marine pollution, disturbance by boat traffic, mortality from boat collisions, and entanglement in fishing gear (e.g., Volgenau et al. 1995 Todd et al. 1996, Mazzuca et al. 1998), but these factors currently are not significantly interfering with population recovery.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

This is a mostly black or gray baleen whale with very long (up to one-third of body length) flippers that often are white or partly white. In front of the paired nostrils the head is flat and covered with knobs. The rear edge of the flippers and fluke is scalloped. The dorsal fin is variable but often has a hump or step along the front edge. The throat has about 14-35 longitudinal grooves. The baleen generally is all black, up to 70 cm long. Maximum length is around 52 feet (16 meters). The blow is bushy and V-shaped. Humpbacks often raise the tail above the water when starting a deep dive. Source: Leatherwood and Reeves (1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from all other large whales in the very large and often white or partially white flippers, the knobs on the head, and the irregular rather than smooth rear margin of the tail fluke (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983). Dorsal fin varies such that it may resemble those of the blue whale, fin whale, or sei whale.

Habitat

Habitat includes the open ocean and coastal waters, sometimes including inshore areas such as bays. Summer distribution is in temperate and subpolar waters. In winter, most humpbacks are in tropical/subtropical waters near islands or coasts.

In the western North Atlantic, humpbacks give birth mainly over shallow wide banks near islands. In Hawaii, they concentrate over shallower waters near islands (Tomich 1986); groups including a calf tend to occur in shallower waters than do groups lacking a calf (Smultea 1994).

Ecology

Humpback whales travel singly, in pairs or trios, or in groups of usually about 10-15. They may form stable feeding groups that stay together throughout the summer and that reform in subsequent summers.

This species sometimes has succumbed to local die-offs off the northeastern United States, due apparently to ingestion of prey containing red tide toxins (IUCN 1991).

Reproduction

In the western North Atlantic, young are born from December or January through March. Gestation lasts 11-12 months. Most adult females bear a calf every 2-3 years (sometimes 1 or 4 years). Young are weaned in 5-12 months. Twelve females that were monitored since first being observed as calves produced their first calves at ages of 5-7 years (Can. J. Zool. 70:1470). In Alaska, the age of first calving is 8-16 years (average 11.8 years).
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5N
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaS4Yes
QuebecS3Yes
New BrunswickS3Yes
Nova ScotiaS3Yes
Prince Edward IslandSNRYes
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
OregonSNAYes
GeorgiaSUYes
North CarolinaSNAYes
WashingtonS2NYes
New YorkSNAYes
AlaskaS3Yes
South CarolinaS1Yes
VirginiaS1NYes
HawaiiSNRYes
DelawareSNAYes
MaineSNRYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
MarylandS1Yes
MassachusettsS2Yes
FloridaSNRYes
New JerseyS1Yes
Rhode IslandSNRNYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
3 - Energy production & miningSmall (1-10%)UnknownHigh (continuing)
3.1 - Oil & gas drillingSmall (1-10%)UnknownHigh (continuing)
4 - Transportation & service corridorsLarge - smallUnknownHigh (continuing)
4.3 - Shipping lanesLarge - smallUnknownHigh (continuing)
5 - Biological resource useLarge - smallSlight or 1-10% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5.4 - Fishing & harvesting aquatic resourcesLarge - smallSlight or 1-10% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
9 - PollutionPervasive - largeUnknownHigh (continuing)
9.6 - Excess energyPervasive - largeUnknownHigh (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (82)
Alaska (78)
AreaForestAcres
AnanTongass National Forest36,666
Bay of PillarsTongass National Forest27,492
Behm IslandsTongass National Forest4,777
Boston BarChugach National Forest53,617
Brabazon AdditionTongass National Forest498,819
CalderTongass National Forest9,857
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Chilkat-West Lynn CanalTongass National Forest199,772
Chugach-3Chugach National Forest27,386
ClevelandTongass National Forest189,447
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
Dall IslandTongass National Forest105,780
Douglas IslandTongass National Forest28,065
DukeTongass National Forest45,091
East ZaremboTongass National Forest10,847
EudoraTongass National Forest195,022
Exit Glacier DonutChugach National Forest126
FanshawTongass National Forest48,248
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Five MileTongass National Forest19,459
Freshwater BayTongass National Forest44,933
Game CreekTongass National Forest54,469
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
HardingTongass National Forest174,349
Hoonah SoundTongass National Forest79,764
Juneau UrbanTongass National Forest101,581
Juneau-Skagway IcefieldTongass National Forest1,187,268
KartaTongass National Forest52,117
KasaanTongass National Forest7,611
Kashevarof IslandsTongass National Forest4,747
KekuTongass National Forest10,869
Kenai LakeChugach National Forest213,172
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
KogishTongass National Forest65,216
LindenbergTongass National Forest25,855
Mansfield PeninsulaTongass National Forest54,991
McKenzieTongass National Forest83,103
Middle KruzofTongass National Forest14,724
MissionaryTongass National Forest16,675
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
North BaranofTongass National Forest314,089
North ClevelandTongass National Forest105,288
North EtolinTongass National Forest40,993
North KruzofTongass National Forest33,146
North KupreanofTongass National Forest114,660
North RevillaTongass National Forest215,430
Outer IslandsTongass National Forest99,862
Pavlof-East PointTongass National Forest5,399
Point AugustaTongass National Forest15,482
Point CravenTongass National Forest10,906
Port AlexanderTongass National Forest120,681
Prince William Sound Is.Chugach National Forest118,698
RedoubtTongass National Forest68,347
RevillaTongass National Forest29,298
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
Roaded DonutChugach National Forest968
Rocky PassTongass National Forest78,163
Salmon BayTongass National Forest22,793
SecurityTongass National Forest31,428
Sitka SoundTongass National Forest13,459
Sitka UrbanTongass National Forest112,003
Soda BayTongass National Forest78,091
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
South RevillaTongass National Forest52,105
South ZaremboTongass National Forest36,285
SpiresTongass National Forest533,746
SukkwanTongass National Forest44,369
SullivanTongass National Forest67,323
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
Tenakee RidgeTongass National Forest20,527
Thorne RiverTongass National Forest72,983
Twenty MileChugach National Forest198,775
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
West ZaremboTongass National Forest6,786
WhitestoneTongass National Forest5,638
Windham-Port HoughtonTongass National Forest161,952
WoewodskiTongass National Forest10,136
WoronkofskiTongass National Forest11,114
California (2)
AreaForestAcres
Bear MountainLos Padres National Forest913
Black ButteLos Padres National Forest5,116
Oregon (2)
AreaForestAcres
TahkenitchSiuslaw National Forest5,799
TenmileSiuslaw National Forest10,818
References (52)
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