M+novaeangliae

Megaptera novaeangliae

-The Humpback Whale lives in all oceans. -In the Atlantic oceace the temperature ranges from 10-25 degrees celcius. -The salinity ranges from 32-37. -Earthquakes, volcanoes, sea floor spreading, subduction and etc all take place in the Atlantic Ocean. -The currents this animal lives in are Labrador Current, Gulf Stream, North Equatorial Current, South Equatorial Current, North Brazil Current,Guinea Current, Angola Current, Brazil Current, Benguela current, and the South Atlantic Current. -Tides range from 11 ft. to 1 ft in height. -Whales tend to migrate towards warmer waters in the winter, and back towards the poles in the summer. -The reason for this is because Humpback Whales feed in the summer months closer to the poles and then move towards equitorial waters in order to mate and give birth. -The overall population has grown to between 18,000 to 20,000 Humpback Whales. -The humpback whale population is increasing by 3.1% in the West Indies. -The humpback whale is very large. They can get up to 52ft and female are usually larger than males. They can weigh up to 30 tons. They are black, blue-black, or dark grey and usually have a partially white underside. -Humpbacks have been protected from commercial whaling in the North Atlantic by the IWC since 1955, the Southern Hemisphere since 1963 and the North Pacific since 1966. There are also sanctuaries in a number of countries that protects the humpback whale. -The endangerment of humpback whales is due to commercial whaling. Also, in humpback habitat off the coasts of Brazil, Gabon, Angola, Mozambique and Madagascar there is a lot of ongoing and planned gas and offshore oil development. Humpback whales are also vonerable to entanglements in fighing lines and ship strikes. Both of which, can be fatal. -My solutions to this are that in areas of high humpback populations, the entanglement of whales becomes illegal. Also, there are still a few areas where commercial whaling still occurs. There must be heavy fines for anyone who is participating in that. Lastly, the gas and offshore oil development must stop. This affects many animals in the ocean and is eventually going to kill all of them. -The reproduction habits of the humpback whale are usually mammalian. The gestation period is usually 11 to 11 1/2 months. They usually produce on average 1 offspring. Breeding usually takes place once every two years, but it may occur twice every three years. -Humpbacks feed upon plankton, the plant and animal life at the surface of the ocean's water, or upon fish in large patches or schools. Killer whales have been known to take down even the largest of whales if they hunt un packs but smaller whales can be killed by sharks. -They were at times the most important constituent of the catch of modern whalers. Their oil was in demand as a kind of burning oil for lamps and as a lubricant for machinery. Whale meat was processed for human consumption and made into animal feed. Meal made from whale bones was used as fertilizer. -The average heartrate of large whales is from about 10 to 30 heartbeats per minute. Blow holes are used for breathing and spraying water. The Baleen is used to catch large amounts of tiny krill. Flukes are one half of the large tail. The pectoral fins are used for swimming. The Median notch is the indentation between the two flukes. The eyes are the sight organs located on the head. Whales store oxygen in their blood and muscle tissue so they can hold their breath much longer than humans. Whales can swim so fast beacuse they have a streamlines body similar to those of fast swimming fish which have little water resistance. Also, whales have smooth skin which causes less turbulence than rough skin so that saves energy and allowes the whales to swim faster.

1. What ocean(s) does the humpback whale live in? 2. What is the overall population of humpback whales? 3. What are the reproduction habits of the humpback whale?

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