Head Slap Lunging head-first out of the water, the whale pounds its massive, sometimes partially engorged mouth on the water's surface. The head can rise 20 feet above the water at the peak of the display. Breach The whale propels itself out of the water, generally clearing the surface with two- thirds of its body or more. As the whale rises above the water, it throws one pectoral fin out to the side and turns in the air about its longitudinal axis. South Pacific humpbacks feed primarily on krill near Antarctica.
Humpbacks can consume nearly a ton of food in a day's time.
During their summer feeding cycle, they store enough energy to last the rest of the year. Generally, they do not feed on the winter breeding grounds, although limited evidence suggests they may feed opportunistically en route and near their breeding grounds. Status Prior to extensive commercial whaling, the North Pacific humpback whale stock may have numbered 15,000 animals. Commercial whaling reduced the population to fewer than 1,000 by 1966, prompting international protection. In the early 1970s, humpbacks were afforded additional protection in U.S. waters by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.