humpback whale.

The humpback whale can grow up to 48 to 62 feet long ( a little longer than a full sized school bus) and weigh up to 40 t0ns. They can dive for up to 30 minutes. Humpbacks can dive to a depth of 500-700 feet. Humpback whales are mostly know for their singing scientists today are still trying to figure out why they do this but its is most likley that they do it for communicattion and to find potential mates.

Humpbacks are great swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin (called a fluke) to swim powerfully, dive deep, and breach . These whales, like most, regularly leap from the water, landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists dont know if this breaching behavior has a purpose weather it clears pests or is simply for fun.

These whales are found near coastlines, eating krill, plankton, and ocationaly small fish. Humpbacks migrate every year from summer feeding grounds which are cooler in search of breading grounds warmer near ther equator (in late november the whales actually pass monterey).Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full growth. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old. Mothers and their young (called calves) are very affectionate often touchering and swiming close together.

The humpback whale is currently on the endangered species list because their mating grounds are close to shore and because they are slow swimmers, the humpback whales were an easy target for early whalers. The International Whaling Commission gave them worldwide protection status in 1966, but there were large illegal kills by the Soviets until the 1970's and there are still large kills going on today mostly in Japan. It is believed there are about 30,000-40,000 whales today.