Humpback Whale Calf Playing

This is a female humpback whale calf (Megaptera novaeangliae australis) playing at the ocean surface, her mother visible in the background. The calf has just used her powerful fluke to spin herself in a circular motion, pivoting around her center of mass. The calf's mammary slits are visible. Exuberant activity like this is vital to the calf's physical development in preparation for the long journey to the feeding grounds. Photographed in the Kingdom of Tonga.

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Image Size: 7120x4747 / 193.5MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Whale Cetacean Humpback Whale Southern Humpback Whale Animalia Chordata Mammalia Eutheria Cetacea Mysticeti Balaenopteridae Megaptera novaeangliae Megaptera novaeangliae australis Cetartiodactyla Baleen Whale CITES Appendix 1 Filter Feeder Marine Mammal Mysticete Rorqual Calf South Pacific Tonga Vava'u
Contained in galleries: Humpback Whales Underwater

This is a female humpback whale calf (Megaptera novaeangliae australis) playing at the ocean surface, her mother visible in the background. The calf has just used her powerful fluke to spin herself in a circular motion, pivoting around her center of mass. The calf's mammary slits are visible. Exuberant activity like this is vital to the calf's physical development in preparation for the long journey to the feeding grounds. Photographed in the Kingdom of Tonga.