Short Description:

Humpback whales have a rounded bulky body ending in broad, deeply notched flukes that have irregular knobby trailing edges and pointed tips . There are fleshy knobs called tubercles on their head forward of their two blowholes and on the leading edge of the lower jaw. Each contains a single bristly hair that scientists believe may have a sensory function. No other whale has these tubercles. There may also be clusters of barnacles on the head and a protuberance at the tip of the lower jaw. There are 12-50 throat grooves or pleats on the ventral side of their body extending from the tip of the lower jaw to just beyond the navel. This is a smaller number of throat grooves than most rorquals have. Their long, narrow, wing-like flippers (pectoral fins) have knobby trailing edges. The shape of the dorsal fin is variable ranging from low and stubby with a broad base to high and falcate (curved ). There is often a prominent hump in front of the dorsal fin.

•  Two Oceans
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  GM Branch;CL Griffiths;ML Branch;LE Beckley
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