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Humpback
Whale Migration and its Effect on Feeding, Mating, and Giving Birth
by
Christopher Rodriguez
- Whales migrates
strictly for the purposes of feeding and breeding
- All around
the world, Whales tend to migrate towards warmer waters in the winter
(towards the equator) and back to towards the poles in the summer
- Humpback
whales feed in the summer months closer to the poles and then move towards
equatorial waters in order to mate and give birth
- During the
winter breeding months, we hear the male make the "long, beautiful,
complicated vocalizations" that make Humpbacks famous

- These songs
are thought to have some role in mating rituals
- Humpbacks
have been known to travel up to 4,000 miles each way on their annual trips
between breeding and feeding grounds
- Because
Humpbacks do not eat during the winter breeding months, they fatten themselves
up during the summer feeding months, making the trip easier
- A mature
female humpback will calve about every two years and by the time its
ready to travel to the breeding grounds again, the calf will be sexually
mature and go on its own
- There is
an "apparent geographical segregation between at least ten populations"
- Some mixing
between populations may occur but there has probably never been any interaction
between the whales of the northern and southern hemispheres
- There are
about 10,000 individual humpbacks worldwide
- The healthiest
populations are in the north western Atlantic ocean
- Other healthy
populations are found in waters near Beguia, Cape Verde, Greenland, and
Tonga
- Humpbacks
are an 'Endangered Species' due to how easily hunted they were
- Whalers
had easy access to humpbacks because of Humpbacks lack of fear of boats
as well as their tendency to get close to the shore on polar feeding grounds
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These
are some probable as well as uncertain migration routes. Also
pointed out is the suspected migration route of the Madagascar
Humpback whale.
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These
are likely Humpback migration routes.
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