The large baleen whales (mysticetes) obtain their food by filter feeding using comb-like baleen plates that grow from the roof of the mouth. Prey is captured either by gulping large amounts of seawater and forcing it across the plates thereby trapping small food items, or by ‘skimming’ across the surface of the water and then removing trapped food with the tongue. Items such as krill, (shrimp-like crustaceans), copepods, amphipods,  make up most of the diet of the baleen whales.

Nearly hunted to extinction, the last whaling station in NSW, at Byron Bay, closed in 1963 because of the lack of whales to be found. Humpback whales are now protected throughout Australia.

Identifying the Humpback Whales
As one of the most easily recognisable of the larger whales, the following points can assist in identifying the Humpback Whales:

• Humpbacks get their name from the way they arch, or hump, their backs when they begin their dives. They will often roll forward to dive until only the tail sticks out of the water. This is called a fluke-up dive.
• Often the first signs is the ‘blow‘’, a cloud of vapour that it shoots into the air when it breaks the surface to breath.
• They lie on their sides or back, holding one or both flippers in the air.
• Are known to fluke slap and flipper slap several times in a row.
• They wave their long pectoral fins; do a leisurely body roll that ends with a splash as their pectoral fin smacks the surface of the water.
• Humpback Whales can launch themselves out of the water in a awe-inspiring motion called ‘breaching’.
• A dark grey or black body, with white patches on its belly, pectoral fins and underside of the tail flukes.
• Long pectoral fins which are almost all white underneath, with bumps on the leading edges. Unlike any other whale, the humpback’s flukes and pectoral fins are scalloped or serrated on the trailing edge.
• A slim head, or rostrum, covered with knobs with a distinctive rounded protuberance near the tip of the lower jaw.
• Large numbers of barnacles often covering both the rostrum and pectoral fins.
• A small dorsal fin.
• As rorquals, they have distinctive throat grooves. They have up to 35 broad ventral throat grooves, extending at least to their navels.

What do they sound like?
Humpback Whales are one of the most exuberant of all whale species, celebrated by mankind for their energetic antics and haunting whale ‘songs’. The male Humpback Whales often ‘sing’ during migration. The ‘songs’ are a complex sequence of clicks, moans and spine-tingling high-pitched wails that can last for a few second or up to an hour. The ‘songs’ seem to change subtly each year and may be a way of attracting a mate, with different Humpback populations singing their own unique songs.

In Australia’s early history, the southern right whale established itself as one of the colony’s main export industries. It was called the ‘right’ whale because it swam slowly, floated when killed, and yielded high quantities of oil and baleen. Because the whales were once plentiful, ships would stay for a while after bringing convicts to the colony, to hunt the southern rights.

By the 1840s, the southern right whales population had almost been wiped out and the whaling industry collapsed. With the ban on whaling, the populations of southern rights have been recovering, scientists today, estimate that there are around 5,000 southern right whales in the world. Southern right whales are protected throughout Australia, and are still listed as a threatened species.

Identifying the Southern Right Whales
The following points can assist in identifying the Southern Right Whales:

• Southern Rights have a very distinctive ‘V’-shaped blow, a cloud of vapour blown out when the whale surfaces to breathe.
• A fluke-up dive, rolling forward to dive, until only their tails stick out of the water.
• A spy hop, raising the head out of the water to look around.
• Southern Rights lie near the surface of the water, with one or both of their pectoral fins above the water.
• The female Southern Rights can also be seen suckling their young.
• Dark skin, with irregular white patches on the throat and belly.
• A round body which tapers to a relatively narrow tail stock.
• A broad tail, with flukes which form a wide triangle with a notch in the middle.
• Large, broad pectoral fins, which have a rectangular shape.
• A large, narrow head with a highly arched mouth.
• A series of natural growths called callosites on the front of the rostrum or head. The largest of these callosites is called the ‘bonnet’. Callosites are also found on the whale’s chin, on the sides of the head, on the lower lips, above the eyes, and near the blowholes.