Humpack Whale

Yay I have finally been able to draw a humpback whale that doesn't look completely wrong! ...I don't think so anyway xD

It was meant to be a female but I think it looks more like a male...it had a sex change! XD

Yeah I know humpbacks have bumps on their heads and they have more on their flippers and tails but when I tried to do all of that it looked really stupid :s

But hey I hope you like it anyway

(I think I might also make this a character...I love how his pattern turned out...he just needs a name now ^^)

~~~~~~~~~~INFO~~~~~~~~~~

Other Names:
none
Maximum Length:
17 metres
Maximum Weight:
40 tonnes
Diet:
Krill and a variety of small schooling fish
Breeding:
Calves every 2-3 years; gestation about 12 months


Humpbacks are mostly known for their long flippers which can reach a third of their body length which gives it its scientific name (Megaptera Novaeangliae means 'big-winged New Englander' - New England being where the first specimen was described.) Its head is also distinctive with a series of tubercles covering the rostrum and much of the lower jaw which are hair follicles, each with a single, coarse hair growing out of the centre.

Humpbacks are among the most energetic of all the large whales and are often seen breaching, lobtailing, flipper-slapping and spyhopping. They are even fun to watch while resting and have been seen laying on their backs or sides, holding their enormous flippers in the air!

Humpbacks have also discovered several ways of catching their food, sometimes they will lunge through patches of fish or krill with their mouths wide open, sometimes they even stun their prey with slaps of their flippers or flukes, but no fishing technique is more impressive than fishing with a net of bubbles! When a humpback forms a bubble-net on its own it will dive beneath the school of fish and blow bubbles out of its blowhole around the school and will then swim through the centre of the bubbles and gulp down all the trapped fish. However groups of up to 20 humpbacks may also work together to catch a large school. This technique is more complex, the humpbacks may stay at the surface for a while to catch their breath and then dive down together and after 5 or 10 minutes, bubbles begin to break the surface, each one about the size of a dinner plate, which can form a bubble about 45m across. Then suddenly gaping mouths will erupt from within the circle, gulping down the confused fish!

Humpback whales are also known for their singing. If you drop a hydrophone in the water in an area where humpbacks are breeding you will often hear moans, groans, roars, snores, squeaks and whistles. While singing, they usually lie on their backs near the surface with their eyes closed and heads pointing towards the sea bed. Humpbacks will usually sing day and night and sometimes continue for 24 hours or more without taking a break!