Humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Valid name.
- English
- Humpback whale
- Scientific
- Megaptera novaeangliae
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Baleen whales
- Maximum size
- Up to about 16 m
- Depth and habitat
- Open ocean and outer atoll waters
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2018 (species); the Arabian Sea subpopulation is Endangered
Description
A robust, black or dark grey whale with very long, mostly white flippers, knobby bumps on the head and a tail fluke whose black-and-white underside pattern identifies individuals. It is famous for breaching, tail-slapping and the complex songs sung by males. It feeds on krill and small schooling fish, sometimes using nets of bubbles to trap them. Most populations migrate between cold feeding grounds and warm breeding waters; the Arabian Sea population is unusual in staying in the tropics year-round.
In the Maldives
Uncommon, but seen regularly. The Maldives lies at the southern edge of the range of the isolated, endangered Arabian Sea population, and Southern Hemisphere humpbacks visit from June to October in growing numbers, with calves seen in September and October (IMMA factsheet).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Megaptera-novaeangliae.html
- mammalwatching.com /wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Maldives-cetaceans-review-2012.pdf
- mrc.gov.mv /assets/Uploads/2005-Observations-of-cetaceans-in-the-Maldives-1990-20
- marinemammalhabitat.org /wp-content/uploads/imma-factsheets/WesternIndianOcean/Maldives-archip
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Humpback_whale_breaching_off_Cabo_San_Lucas.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-specific Dhivehi name found. Anderson (2005) reports that Maldivian fishermen do not generally distinguish whale species and call large whales 'bodumas' ('big fish').