Humpback Whale

The Humpback Whale is a species of baleen whales. That means that the teeth are replaced by baleen plates which enables the Humpbacks to filtrate plankton, microscopic crustaceans, from the huge amounts of water they draw into the mouth and then sieve through the baleen. Humpback Whales appear throughout the oceans all around the world. Moving regularly between summer feeding grounds in polar waters to breeding grounds in tropics, Humpback Whales perform the longest known migration among the mammals.

Females with calves may associate into groups, while males are solitary. During the mating season, the males are following receptive females and protect them against others. Humpback Whales, especially the solitary males, communicate over great distances using a very complex system of calls, the whale songs.

Humpbacks perform leaping displays, they are even able to jump the whole body out the water. While moving close to the water surface they are showing the caudal flippers which pattern is individually specific and enables the individual identification.