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Humpback Whale Migration and its Effect on Feeding, Mating, and Giving Birth
by Christopher Rodriguez
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- 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 it’s ready to travel to the breeding grounds again, the calf will be sexually mature and go on it’s 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
These are some probable as well as uncertain migration routes. Also pointed out is the suspected migration route of the Madagascar Humpback whale.
These are likely Humpback migration routes.