On 15 September 2010 the carcass of a Humpback Whale approximately 12m in length washed up on the beach at Maitland in Port Elizabeth. I took a drive down to the site on Saturday to snap some photos. Needless to say, the carcass was in the first few stages of decompotion and that smell in the air was quite bad at times - so bad in fact, that upon arriving back at home, I immediately stripped off my clothes and took a second bath for the morning.
As can be seen from the photo above, the tail of the whale was damaged - this could have been an injury caused by a large propeller. Also of interest are the throat or ventral grooves which run from the chin to the navel.Humpback Whales feed by taking in big amounts of water, all thanks to the troat grooves that expand, and filter krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, and small fish.
Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) belong to the baleen whale suborder. The whales are well-know for breaching and the males sing the most beautiful and melodious 'song'.
The Humpback Whale can easily be identified by its stocky body, large pectoral fins with knobs on the front edge and humped dorsal fin. Another characteristic of the species is the small knobs (tubercles), which are actually hair follicles, decorating the edges of the upper jaw.
The grown size of these whales are commonly 15–16 metres in males, 16–17 metres in females. The life expectancy of an individual is 45 - 50 years. The estimate age of the whale in these picture is 10 years.
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| Close-up Of Barnacles On Pectoral Fin |
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| Marking On Pectoral Fin |
As I left, a local contractor arrived to bury the carcass and for a moment I was overcome by sadness as humans were once again responsible for the death of yet another majestic creature. However, nothing compares to the anger I feel for those countries who still see it fit to hunt them even though they are endangered!!!!
For more information on this beautiful mammal, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale
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