Migration
Humpbacks, who migrate from the cold
waters of the north to the tropical waters of the south, travel quite a
bit. While the humpbacks are in the
north they discover amazing amounts of food to devour. In the course of the year they spend four
extremely long months traveling from North to South, and eight months of the
year consuming food and giving birth.
Interestingly Humpbacks that live in the Pacific Ocean alternate
migrating to Mexico and Hawaii to their birthing grounds. Humpbacks return north. When they head back north the babies have
enough blubber to survive in the cold northern waters. Humpbacks travel even more than military
kids.
History
The humpback whale’s history is
amazingly sad. Sadly it seems humans
only love whales after they are nearly gone.
When people throw trash in the water and near the shore they are killing
humpbacks. People also killed humpbacks
intentionally. They killed them for
their meat and oil. From the oil they
produced soap. The meat, which was used
to make cat food, is another reason the whales were hunted. Because the whales were hunted they are now
commercialy extinct. The whales have a
tragic history.
Humpbacks live in family groups. Male humpbacks sing sweet songs hoping to
attract a female. The couple will romp
together. After that, they nuzzle and
sing gently to each other. Mother and
baby humpbacks are guarded by an escort.
Secretly, other humpbacks will trail behind the escort wanting him to
leave so they can take over. The male escort, who is very aggressive, will
protect the mother and babies if they are in danger. When they are in danger the male will lash
the attacker with his barnacle covered tail and sometimes draw blood. These family groups protect each other in the
large open waters.
