Least ConcernHumpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
One of the 7 whales on WAnimals
Mammals · Artiodactyla · Balaenidae
Balaena mysticetus
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
It is the longest-lived mammal known, with at least four documented individuals over 100 years old and one male estimated at 211 years by aspartic acid racemisation in the lens of the eye.
Weight
54 t – 100 t
Size
14 m – 20 m
Life expectancy
65 years
Diet
Omnivore
Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.
Activity
Irregular activity
Active at irregular times, by day or night depending on circumstances.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Estimated population
Around 25,000 animals, most of them in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas population, and recovering.
Sources consulted: MarineBio; Journal of Zoology (Nerini life history study); AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animal Diversity Web; A-Z Animals; PMC (baleen hormone cycles study); NOAA Fisheries; PMC (genome longevity study); SpiderZoon
Best time: From April to June in the Arctic, during the migration through the leads in the ice.
The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 11 of 16.
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Bowhead Whale — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Based on what we already know about bowhead whale.
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