Five Cool Humpback Whale Adaptations
Humpback whales are basically ocean superheroes, and we’re here to prove it! Here are five of their coolest adaptations: bumpy faces packed with sensors (engineers have even copied them for wind turbines), brains that never fully clock off, and a black-and-white outfit that doubles as camouflage. Plus, a stretchy-throated feeding technique that makes the ultimate big gulp, and an impressive breath-holding ability! Watch them right here in Newcastle.
Tubercles
What are those weird bumps on the front of the whale? These are called Tubercles, and they are very important for a humpback to function. These big bumps are located across the whale’s rostrum (lower and upper jaw) and the tips of their pectoral fins. Each of these tubercles has a single hair follicle sprouting out, which is connected to a network of sensitive nerves. This allows the whale to sense its surroundings and movement within the water.
Humpback whales can have 30-60 tubercles across their rostrum and 9-11 tubercles across each fin. The tubercles located on the fins help with hydrodynamics and increase swimming efficiency. So much that engineers have copied them to improve aeroplanes and wind turbines!
They are never fully asleep
Whales must continually come to the surface of the water for air, meaning they never enter a fully asleep state. Half of the whale’s brain stays awake while the other half enters a sleep like state. The process is called Unihemispheric sleep. It allows the whale to continue swimming, surfacing for air and stay alert for threats. During this state the whale switches which side of the brain is sleeping, from right to left, allowing either side of the brain to rest.
Black & White
Humpbacks are two distinct colours, black and white, but why? They have developed these two colours as a defensive camouflage. When seen from above, predators and other animals in the ocean cannot see them as they blend into the depths and the darkness of the ocean below. However, from below, the white makes them look like the shallows and the sunlight above. This lets them stay safe from predators or sneak up on prey.
Feeding Power
Humpbacks have an amazing adaptation that allows them to stretch the skin along their underside, giving them the ability to take massive mouthfuls of water and prey. Ventral pleats are long grooves that go from the chin down towards the stomach, which is made of stretchable skin and tissue.
Humpbacks can have 20 to 36 ventral pleats, and these exist for the whale to lunge-feed, swimming into large schools of fish or krill with its mouth wide open. The whale then pushes out the excess water through the baleen and mouth, trapping the prey. These ventral pleats can expand to half the size of the whale, allowing enormous amounts of space for catching prey.
Deep Breaths
One of the final and best humpback whale adaptations is their ability to hold their breath for up to 20 minutes! This is achieved by slowing their heart rate down from around 60-100 beats per minute to 4-8 beats per minute. Each lung can hold hundreds of litres of air, but this ability stems from the whale’s oxygen-rich muscles and blood, which can astonishingly hold more oxygen than their lungs.
This is because humpback whales’ muscles store a high level of myoglobin, a protein that stores oxygen. The whale can also redirect its blood flow to vital organs such as the heart and brain to provide more oxygen and reduce blood flow to less essential tissues such as the digestive system.
