- Humpback Whales spend their summers in Alaskan waters, eating and putting on weight
- Like many human visitors, they enjoy a winter vacation in the warmth of Hawaii, for the whales it's usually about 4 months long. However, no luaus for Humpbacks, they do not eat while in Hawaiian Waters
- During spring and summer they migrate between their two places of residence
- They travel around 3-5 mph during migration
- Their journey to and from Hawaii takes them anywhere from 30 to 60 days
- Fully grown adults can be 40-50 feet in length
- They weigh 40-45 TONS - that is over 80,000 pounds!
- They have 15-25 "ventral pleats" which allow them to stretch their mouth out to over 4 times it's normal size and they can make up to a 90 degree angle with their mouth!
- When Humpbacks breath, the water rushes out of their blowhole at speeds of over 300 mph
- Humpback's blubber is about 7 inches thick on their journey to Hawaii and by the time their vacation is finished, they only have about 2 inches remaining
- Singing male Humpbacks can hold their breath up to 1 hour when they're serenading the females
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- They typically live to 35-40 years, but some have lived to over 50 years old
- Humpbacks have specially shaped corneas that allow them to have excellent vision both in and outside of the water
- They have knobby bumps on their back called "tubercles" with 1 single hair growing out which scientists suggest help detect motion and sound vibrations underwater
- Scientists estimate that Humpbacks have highly developed sense of taste because of their tendency towards certain species of fish
- They have no teeth - instead they have 300-400 baleen which allows them to filter their prey when they eat
- Their diet consists of krill, herring, capelin, sand lance, and mackerel- and they can eat over 1 ton of it in a day!
- The Humpback's primary predators are sharks and Orca (killer) Whales
- Babies born in Hawaii weigh around 1 1/2 tons and are 12-15 feet long. They can consume up to 100 gallons of their mother's milk in a given day.
- The Humpback Whale faced extinction in the 1980s when commercial whaling was still legal, since this was outlawed the populations are slowly growing back.
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