Humpback Whales - Megaptera novaengliae
The humpback whale is a medium-sized baleen whale that feeds in
the productive waters of the Gulf of Maine from early spring until the fall. 
Humpback
whales migrate into our cold northern waters in March and continue to feed until November. As winter approaches, most of the humpback population heads south, traveling over 3,600 miles to reach the breeding and calving grounds in the Caribbean. In these southern waters food is scarce since warm water does not hold as much dissolved oxygen as cold water. So to survive, humpback whales and other large baleen whales fast for a few months at a time, using the thick blubber layer just under the skin as a secondary energy resource. In the spring, humpbacks begin the migration north to the more productive waters off New England.
Adult humpback whales can reach lengths of up to 50 feet and weigh close to 35 tons. Females tend to be larger in size than the males, but it is difficult to tell the size of a whale even when they come close to your boat. Since humpbacks are not able to eat year round, they must eat huge quantities of food when on a daily basis when in the northern feeding grounds. Off New England, humpbacks prefer to feed on small schooling 
fish and some types of large zooplankton, such as copepods and krill. Adult humpback whales can eat close to 1 to 2 tons of food each day and will feed whenever enough food is available.
The scientific name for the humpback whale is difficult to pronounce, yet its translation provides a wonderful description of the animal and the areas in which it is found. The scientific name is, Megaptera novaeangliae. This name provides a 
wonderful
description of the animal for it translates to “the big winged New Englander”. “Big winged” refers to the long white flippers of the humpback whale and “New
Englander” refers to the fact that this animal was first described in the water’s off New England. Humpbacks migrate into our waters to feed from March until November after spending 3 or 4 months each winter in the warm waters of the Caribbean where they breed and calve.
The humpback whale is unique in its size and shape when compared to the other baleen whales that also feed in our New England waters. Humpbacks have the longest front 
flippers of any whale reaching up to 1/3 the length of the body. On an adult animal, each flippers can be 12 or 13 feet long, giving the humpback whale its nickname, the “wings of the sea.” The humpback whale also has a distinctive hump of fatty tissue just in front of the dorsal fin, the fin on the back of the animal. This noticeable hump gives this species its common name, the humpback whale.
Humpbacks filter their food out of the water using a flexible, yet durable material called baleen located inside the mouth. Baleen is made out of a protein called keratin, 
the same protein found in your hair and fingernails. Baleen comes in triangular plates that hang down from the upper jaw of the whale. Each plate is situated behind the other like the teeth of a comb, and each plate is fringed only on the inside of the mouth. There can be over 300 individual plates hanging down from each side of the upper jaw, and this creates a dense matt of hair that acts as an effective strainer. As the plates wear at the bottom, they are replaced by new tissue at the gum line. Baleen is only found in the upper jaw for the purpose of the lower jaw is to scoop or capture as much food and water as possible.
When feeding on small schooling fish, humpbacks use their smarts not their speed to
concentrate the bait. Humpbacks often blow bubbles that rise in the water column and act as natural barriers or nets confining the fish into a small area. These bubble structures can be in the form of bubble nets, columns or clouds that rise through the water column and disorient or confuse the fish. The whale then lunges mouth open through the bubbles and bait, as the bubbles continue to rise all around the whale. After lunging, the whale closes its mouth and pushes or strains the water through the baleen plates and out of the mouth before swallowing the fish.
Humpback whales have unique body features and pigmentation patterns that scientists can use to help them study this gentle giant of the sea. Each humpback
whale has a unique shape and size to their dorsal fin. And each humpback whale has a unique black and white pigmentation pattern on the underside of their tail, also called the fluke. No two humpback whales have the same ventral fluke pattern and therefore, this pattern can be used as a fingerprint or natural tag. Using natural body features and pigmentation patterns to identify individuals means that you do not have to mark or tag the animals. All you need to do is to photograph the dorsal fin and the ventral tail pattern and you now have all the information you need to determine the identify of the animal.
Photo-Identification of the Humpback Whale
Researchers who study the humpback whale - Megaptera novaengliae - photograph specific body features in order to identify individual humpback whales offshore.
These features include
- the dorsal fin - both sides are photographed if possible
- the undersurface - ventral surface - of the flukes or tail
- any unique scars or cuts on the body
- any unique pigmentation patterns on the body
The body features mentioned above are those normally observed when an individual humpback whale is at the surface of the water or when it prepares to dive deep.
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Fluke #1 |
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Fluke #2 |
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Fluke #3 |
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Fluke #4 |
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Fluke #5 |
Typically, the most useful feature used to identify humpback whales is the undersurface - ventral surface - of the tail, also called the flukes. When a humpback whale lifts its flukes out of the water, a beautiful black and white pattern is typically observed on the bottom surface of the flukes. Some individuals have ventral flukes that are very white, while others have ventral flukes that are very black. Most humpbacks have a tail pattern that is somewhere in between these two extremes, but no two individuals have the same tail pattern.
To facilitate organizing these different patterns, scientists have created a numbering system that assigns each fluke a number between #1 through #5. These numbers are based on the relative amount of white and black that is present on the undersurface of the tail. Flukes that are assigned a #1, are predominantly white while flukes that are assigned a #5 are predominantly black.
In addition to the ventral tail pattern, the dorsal fin should also be photographed for this body feature varies among individual humpback whales. Each humpback whale has a unique size and shape to their dorsal fin, the fin on the back of the animal. Some dorsal fins are large and rounded while others are smaller and more hooked. And typically there are other unique features such as scars, scratches and cuts on each side of the dorsal fin that can also be used to help identify individuals offshore.
This
can be seen on the photograph to the left that shows two humpback whales traveling on the surface. Notice the difference in the size and the shape of their dorsal fins. Therefore, it is important to photograph both the right and left sides of this body feature along with the ventral tail pattern when attempting to make a positive identification.
A number of non-profit organizations post online portions of their humpback catalogs for viewing by the general public. One of Captain John’s naturalists, Fred Wasti, has organized these sites onto one web page that also includes all of his digital images of humpback whales. Check out Fred’s whale images and access his direct links to other catalogs by going to flukeshots.net.
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