Figure 8b. — Swimming, blowing, and diving characteristics of humpback, bowhead, right, and sperm whales. 



Body up to 53 feet (16.2 m) long. 



Body dark gray with irregular white area on belly; flippers white; 



underside of flukes often has varying amounts of white. 

 Head in front of blowhole flat and covered with knobs. 

 Baleen dark gray to black with olive-black bristles. 

 Dorsal fin small, quite variable in shape, usually hooked, located 



on a step or hump, in last one-third of back. 

 Flippers very long (to nearly one-third of body length), white, and 



scalloped on leading edge. 

 Distribution at least New England to Iceland and Greenland during 



summer. 

 Distribution to shallow tropical banks, winter and spring. 

 Flukes often scalloped on trailing edges and sometimes raised on 



dive. 



Humpback whale 



Megaptera novaeangliae 

 p. 40 



NOTE: Because of its small adult size, usually less than 30 feet (9. Im), another member of the rorqual family, 

 the minke whale, is included with the medium-sized whales in this guide. Features by which it may be 

 distinguished from all other rorquals are discussed in the species account. 



Further, inasmuch as the dorsal fin of the humpback whale is highly variable in shape, positive identification 

 may require reference to the sperm whale (p. 57), which, though the sperm whale has been classified with 

 species without dorsal fin, has a rather distinct dorsal hump, particularly noticeable when the animal arches 

 the back and tail to begin a long dive. 



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