Hump-backed Whale

Colour - black; belly and lower jaw white; flippers white with dark blotches

Length - 12 to 15 metres

Shape - top of head with hump and many small bumps; flippers long and with knobs on front edges; flukes on tail with scalloped edges; small dorsal fin 2/3 of way back on body

Behaviour - often solitary; spout high (up to 6 metres) as an expanding column; sometimes seen breaching; may swim in a circle and blow a curtain of bubbles around zooplankton to trap them in a small volume of water, then swim open-mouthed through the trapped animals, scooping them in (may brake the surface at the end of this feeding behaviour); also feed on small fish (including herring, capelin, and cod)

Distribution - present in Davis Strait and off Labrador in summer; rarely north of Davis Strait

Sensitivity - scientific evidence about reaction to vessels and aircraft is lacking

Note - The Hump-backed Whale is not usually hunted by Inuit and Inuvialuit, but was pursued by European and Japanese whalers until recently, when a moratorium on the kill was put in place in order to save the species from extinction.

Hump-backed Whale (39 KB)

Lancaster Sound Area Distribution Maps: This species is not sensitive in this area, therefore no maps are presented.

Coronation Gulf Area Distribution Maps: This species is not sensitive in this area, therefore no maps are presented.