Humpback Whale - Megaptera novaeangliae


The winged whale with 12 foot long pectoral fins is often seen making dramatic surface displays. This baleen whale has recovered its numbers to some extent since the 1966 moratorium on hunting. At times,a Humpback will approach and seem intent on taking over a boat, swimming up to it, spyhopping and spouting just next to it, or even on rare occasions, laying its 1000 pound pectoral fin across it. Humpbacks are famed for their breaching displays as well as their tail and pectoral fin slapping displays when they will often roll over just next to a boat.

To witness a Humpback whale breach near your boat is surely one of the most exciting sights in all the animal kingdom. Consequently, these whales are perhaps the most watched species in the world. In the Sea of Cortez they are quite common in the south in winter months. As one ventures to the north, they become less and less common and it becomes mainly the juveniles that are encountered as one reaches the area around Loreto. Humpbacks can grow to be 50 feet in length and reach close to 40 tons or 80,000 pounds

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