Half A Brain At A Time For Humpback Whales

Humpback whales are unique in that they breathe voluntarily, unlike humans.

 Picture from Aquarium

Since they have to remember to breathe, researchers believe humpback whales sleep by shutting off half of their brain at a time. While one half of the brain stays awake to make sure the whale breathes and alerts the whale to any danger in its environment, the other half of the brain sleeps.

Huge Humpback Whales

It's hard to tell the size of a humpback whale due to the fact that we never get too close to them, however, for comparison's sake, a humpback whale is about the size of a city bus.

Picture from The Sea Monster

Fully grown, most humpback whales measure 40 to 50 feet in length and weigh between 20 and 40 tons.  Females are slightly larger than males and newborn calves are roughly the length of their mother's head.

Friday Fact - Baby Humpback Whales

Did you know that baby humpback whales is born measuring 14 feet long and weighing roughly 2.5 tons? That's one big baby! So it's no wonder that a baby humpback drinks 130 gallons of milk each day.

Humpback Whale Gives Surfer a Scare

A video of a humpback whale that appears to nearly swallow a surfer has become a huge hit on Youtube in recent days. It depicts the surfer and a pair of kayakers near the coast of Santa Cruz, California in calm waters when suddenly, a pair of giant humpback whales surface, mouths agape, missing the surfer by just a few feet.

Although the encounter surely gave the surfer a scare, these giant whales, which can grow to over 60 feet long, weren’t interested in having her for a meal. As with most large whales, humpbacks feed primarily on small sea life such as krill and schooling fish like herring and mackerel. Instead of teeth, humpbacks have rows of baleen plates used to trap their prey by the thousands when they open their mouths. Once the prey is caught, they simply drain the water and swallow their catch.

Whereas some baleen whales are relatively passive feeders, humpbacks are active hunters. When hunting schooling fish such as in the video, the whales will slap their fins against the water and use their blowholes to create a “bubble net”, working in teams to force the fish into tighter groups. Once the fish have been bunched together, the whales will lunge towards the surface, mouths agape, for an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.

Adopt a Crittercam Animal

Did you know that you can adopt a crittercam animal? Scientists learn how to protect endangered animals by studying their behaviors and the habitats they live in. And the only way to do that is by following them with a camera. Donate and watch a Humpback Whale, Elephant, Gray Seal, Loggerhead Turtle or White Shark in their environment. You can learn new animal behaviors and support scientific research with your donations. Check it out at NationalGeographic.com.

Singing Like a Humpback

The humpback whale’s name comes from the way it arches its back when coming out of the water. Humpbacks are known for their mating rituals, which take place in the winter months. Anywhere from two to 20 males gather around a single female to compete for her. They try various things, including breaching, flipper-slapping and tail-slapping (to name a few), in order to win the female’s attention. Their unique singing also helps win over their mate.