Whales and New Jersey: Humpback Whales

Whaling in North America was reported as early as A.D. 890. The principal attraction of whaling was the whale's subcutaneous blubber, which yielded oil ideal for lamp oil which was the dominant form of lighting. Much later, it was used in the production of margarine.

The baleen and, in the case of the sperm whale, whale teeth, were also of value. Whalebones were used in the manufacture of glue, gelatin and manure. Besides being eaten by humans, the meat has also been used in dog food and, when dried and crushed, as cattle feed.

Humpback whales may be the best known of all the whales and are easily recognized. These whales, which reach lengths of 16.2 m (53 ft.), have broad, rapidly tapering bodies that are primarily black. Their bellies are sometimes white, and in the North Atlantic the flippers are usually white both ventrally and dorsally (or top
and bottom).

Breaching humpback

Their baleen plates are black, with black or olive-black bristles. Both the top of their heads and lower jaws are dotted with randomly placed fleshy knobs. The lower jaw also has a rounded projection on its tip.

The long flippers are the most distinctive feature of this whale, since at one-third the body length they exceed those of any other species, and they have scalloped leading edges.

The pattern on the underside of the tail varies from all white to all black each pattern is individually distinctive, allowing researchers to identify and track individual whales.

Humpbacks are well known for their songs. We have discovered that these songs can travel across an ocean, and that male humpback compositions are improvised together, from one year to the next.  Check out this PBS Nature video clip to see and hear them - "Songs of the Humpbacks."

Humpback in singing position along with a calf

Whale, North Atlantic right**	Eubalaena glacialis**
Whale, blue**	Balaenoptera musculus**
Whale, fin**	Balaenoptera physalus**
Whale, humpback**	Megaptera novaeangliae**
Whale, sei**	Balaenoptera borealis**
Whale,sperm**	Physeter macrocephalus**
**Federally Endangered

SOURCE  njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/pdf/end-thrtened/whales.pdf