Humpback Whale Female at Center of Heat Run | Tonga

This is the female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that was the center of an extended, energetic competitive group heat run. There were two large males that were the main contenders, including one particularly aggressive male that had white pectoral fins, and a number of other males that cycled in and out of the intense activity. The barnacles on the female humpback’s pectoral fin are clearly visible.

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Filename: humpback-whale-female-pectoral-fin-bubbles-heat-run-tonga-201408-8738.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No duplication, reproduction or usage without prior written permission.
Image Size: 5752x3840 / 36.7MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Humpback Whale Animalia Chordata Mammalia Eutheria Cetacea Mysticeti Balaenopteridae Megaptera novaeangliae Cetartiodactyla Baleen Whale CITES Appendix 1 Filter Feeder Endangered: IUCN Red List Marine Mammal Mysticete Rorqual Crustacean Barnacle Humpback Whale Barnacle Arthropoda Crustacea Maxillipoda Sessilia Coronulidae Coronula diadema Competitive Group Heat Run Pectoral Fin Bubbles South Pacific Tonga Vava’u Monochrome
Contained in galleries: Humpback Whales Underwater, Monochrome Whales

This is the female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that was the center of an extended, energetic competitive group heat run. There were two large males that were the main contenders, including one particularly aggressive male that had white pectoral fins, and a number of other males that cycled in and out of the intense activity. The barnacles on the female humpback’s pectoral fin are clearly visible.