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Intimate Contact Between Courting Humpback Whales

Intimate contact between two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) engaged in courtship. The whale with the white pectoral fin is the male, the female on top. Such physical contact characterized this extended encounter with these two whales. One or both of the whales also made low, gurgling sounds that came across as lovey-dovey sounds, for lack of a better term.

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Filename: intimate-contact-humpback-whales-courtship-tonga-200908-1965.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No duplication, reproduction or usage without prior written permission.
Image Size: 5115x2877 / 19.6MB; 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 Courtship South Pacific Tonga Vava'u
Contained in galleries: Humpback Whales Underwater

Intimate contact between two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) engaged in courtship. The whale with the white pectoral fin is the male, the female on top. Such physical contact characterized this extended encounter with these two whales. One or both of the whales also made low, gurgling sounds that came across as lovey-dovey sounds, for lack of a better term.