Table of Contents
What type of skin do humpback whales have?
smooth skin
Whales are mammals that breathe air into their lungs and have smooth skin with a small amount of hair.
Why are humpback whales covered in barnacles?
In the case of barnacles and whales, only the barnacles benefit from attaching to the whales, but at no biological cost to the whale. This type of symbiotic relationship is known as commensalism. In this case, attaching to the whales gives the barnacles a stable place to live, a free ride, and access to plenty of food.
Are whales covered in fur?
When we think of whales, hair is not usually something that comes to mind – but most whales and dolphins have some hair when they are born, and certain species keep their hair throughout their life! The majority of baleen whales have hair follicles and some, like the humpback whale, still have visible hairs.
Do the barnacles on whales bother them?
Those patchy white spots you see on gray whales are barnacles. They don’t harm the whales or feed on the whales, like true parasites do. Barnacles don’t serve any obvious advantage to the whales, but they give helpful lice a place to hang onto the whale without getting washed away by water.
Why are whales covered in bumps?
The bumps on the rostrum, or head, and the pectoral fins of a humpback whale are, in fact, hair follicles. Called “tubercles,” these fist-sized bumps contain one hair follicle each, connected to a set of sensitive nerves. These tubercles may be a contributing factor for their agility.
What body covering do whales have?
Blubber covers the entire body of animals such as seals, whales, and walruses—except for their fins, flippers, and flukes. Blubber an important part of a marine mammal’s anatomy. It stores energy, insulates heat, and increases buoyancy.
What are whales covered with?
Barnacles regularly colonize the skin of filter-feeding whales, and they often do so in huge numbers — one humpback whale, for instance, can host almost 1,000 pounds of barnacles.
What are the bumps on humpback whales?
The bumps on the rostrum, or head, and the pectoral fins of a humpback whale are, in fact, hair follicles. Called “tubercles,” these fist-sized bumps contain one hair follicle each, connected to a set of sensitive nerves.
How do whales get barnacles off?
Whale lice are orange colored patches around the barnacles and in crevices of the whale’s body such as creases and the mouth line. To get rid of the whale lice, whales rub themselves along the sea bottom or breach. Gray whales feed on bottom sediments and scrape off barnacles and whale lice as they feed.
Is humpback whale dangerous?
They are regarded as one of the world’s top three most dangerous shark species, second only to great white sharks for the recorded number of bites to humans. This is not the first documented case of humpback whales showing altruistic and protective behaviour towards other species.
What does the humpback whale migration pattern?
Some whale species with fairly well-known migration patterns include: North Atlantic right whales, which appear to move between cold waters off the Northeastern US and Canada to waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Humpback whales, which move between northern feeding grounds and southern breeding grounds .
What is the scientific name for a humpback whale?
The scientific name for Humpback whale is Megaptera novaeangliae
Where do humpbacks live?
Humpbacks from the Western Aleutians and Bering Sea migrate to the northern Marianas, Taiwan (China), Japan, the Philippines and Korea. In the North-West Atlantic, humpbacks are found in summer feeding areas off Iceland, southern Greenland , Norway, Svalbard and the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States.