30 Maui Ocean Adventures & Whale Watch Magazine
From baby
to adult
First Year Six to Ten Years Adult Humpback At Birth
After 11 months inside mama,
they come out at about 10-20
feet in length weighing up to 2.5
tons. If you see a tiny whale with
a bent flipper, you're looking at
a newborn calf.
While learning how to eat fish,
the calf nurses, drinking up
to 130 gallons of milk each
day. Each month they put on
as much as 2,000 pounds in
weight and grow a foot in length.
By the end of the first year, that
adolescent can expect to be as
large as 24 feet and 26,000
pounds - now that's a big baby!
This is when humpbacks are
considered to have reached
their maturity and are able
to have babies of their own.
At this stage, a male will be
around 35 feet, and females
average about 40 feet - yes,
the girls are bigger!
Fully grown humpbacks reach
up to 62 feet long and tip the
scales at 79,000 pounds. On
average, moms have a baby
every couple of years. If they
don't get caught in nets, hit by
a boat, or killed by a predator,
humpbacks can live as long
as 80 years. That means over
their life, a humpback could
theoretically have 35 or more
children. Can you imagine?
G ROWTH CHART
Humpback moms always
stay close to their calves.
Photo
by
Marty
Wolff
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