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Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
43.9572, -68.0287
Field Notes
Description:
Large robust body 50-56' (16-17m) long and 90,000 lb (40,000kg) males slightly smaller than females. Backs are dark with white or mottled bellies. Very long flippers 15' often white with dark marks. Underside of their tail or fluke can range in color from totally black to totally white with endless variations of pattern in between... individuals can be identified by the patterns on the underside of their tail. They are members of the Balaenoptera family have baleen and filter small fish and krill rather than having teeth like Orcas or dolphins.
Habitat:
This particular group of whales inhabit the North Atlantic. Breeding in the West Indies between January and March (Silver Bank North of Dominican Republic is a favorite breeding ground) and feeding in the cold rich waters of the Gulf of Maine, Eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland and the North Sea.
Notes:
He is listed as FLYER hwc#0183. In the Allied Whale catalog
http://www.coa.edu/html/nahc.htm
They hold the main catalog for North Atlantic whales and have identified over 6,000 whales!
He is thought to be a male since he has not been seen with a calf and he is an "old timer" first seen in 1979. I saw him off Mt. Desert Rock on the
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