Humpback Whale Profile, Facts and Information

/Home//Middle School Arctic Ocean Food Webs & Food Chains/Middle Arctic Ocean Consumers/Middle Arctic Ocean Large Carnivores

Humpback Whale Profile, Facts and Information
Photograph courtesy Dr. Louis M. Herman/NOAA
NationalGeographic.com

These whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton, and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator. Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appear to be gestures of affection. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old.

Please visit the website for more information.