Boy in the Submarine – Episode 11: Humpback Whales

Humpback whales can have beautiful voices, and they can be heard for miles and miles!

Owen

Humpback Whales have beautiful voices, and are the great musicians of the sea. Each family has their own special song, and each individual whale has a song of its own based on it, just like a personal name! They also make up new songs for both fun and communication. If a whale makes up a particularly catchy tune, the whole ocean of Humpbacks can pick it up and start singing it.

Humback whales work in teams to make huge swirling nets of bubbles to catch krill and plankton. They eat 1.5 tonnes of krill every day. Without big filter feeders, clouds of micro-organisms could become a pollutant in the water.

Humpback whales don;t live for centuries like other whales: they are fully grown by 7, and live 40-60 years. They also spend less time under water: most of their dives onlly last 10-15 minutes, even though they can hold their breath for as long as 48 minutes.