IN 1616 Smith's History of Virginia mentions whales in the "Bermudas" during the months of January, February, and March. Other early accounts report whales in Bermuda until May. Undoubtedly these were humpback whales although sperm whales and right whales were also accounted for in the reports. Now some 6,000 humpback whales probably pass within 300 miles of Bermuda each April. Because the ocean is so vast however, only several dozen may be seen from shore and by boat.

There were more humpback whales during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries than there are today. Humpbacks probably used Bermuda as a breeding ground for winter during these previous centuries. It is still possible that as whale populations recover from over-hunting, humpbacks may again breed off Bermuda.

In the early days of the settlement of Bermuda, whaling became an important economic pursuit and whale fishery was claimed as a royalty by the Bermuda Company. Whale oil provided fuel for lamps and the meat was eaten by the less prosperous members of the community. Whale oil was shipped out of Bermuda in barrels. Humpback whales were easy prey for whalers. Humpback whales are very vulnerable to capture as they swim near to costal regions, are relatively slow swimmers (with a normal surface speed of four to five knots), they do not appear to flee when approached by boats or divers, and their blubber contains almost twice as much oil as that of other species their own size.

Whaling continued form 1611 until the late 1800s. Very few whale captures have been reported in the 20th century. One of the last reported whale captures took place in 1942. An unsuccessful attempt was made to capture a humpback whale on the morning of November 13, 1942.

We are still going to sea after whales around Bermuda, not to kill them or harm them, but to track them and find out more about these awesome and beautiful creatures in the hope that our knowledge will protect them from possible extinction. A small transmitter is shot into the blubber of the whale just in front of the blow hole. The impact on the whale of the small transmitter barb has been likened to the tiny sting of the mosquito bite to a human. Great care is taken not to harpoon either female whales or claves. The calves have just been born and need to be protected in their relationships with their mothers.

From 1980 to the early 90s studies have been done jointly by Greg Stone, New England Aquarium and Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute International Advisor, Steve Katona, (Retrd), College of the Atlantic and BUEI International Advisor and Teddy Tucker to identify and catalogue individual humpback whales off Bermuda.

The humpback whale has a visible and individually distinctive pattern of pigmentation on the undersides of the tail flukes just like we have individual identification from our fingerprints. When the whales dive, their flukes come out of water and can be photographed. These photographs are then catalogued and can be matched with that same whale fluke if it is photographed off the Coast of Maine, Canada, and Greenland, Iceland or the Antilles. This information will tell how far that individual whale has traveled and where it feeds in the Summer and breeds in the Winter.

Humpback whales reach sexual maturity at 4-5 years and physical maturity at ten years. The gestation period lasts twelve months. Almost all whales are born tails first. As soon as the birth is complete, the mother gently uses her body and appears to lift the calf to the surface for its first breath of fresh air. As do other mammals, the calf suckles from the mother's mammary glands. Whale milk is very rich in fat to allow the calf to gain weight rapidly and put on blubber needed for warmth in the cold northern waters. One calf is born to each female every two or three years.

Humpbacks are baleen whales versus toothed such as the sperm whale. The humpback ingests huge quantities of water and then forces the water out again through the plates of the baleen where the krill or other sea life lodge in the plates of the baleen and become a meal for the whale. Krill is the main source of diet for the humpback. Krill is a small crustacean from 2 to 2 ½ inches long and occurs in huge schools at depths of water from 35 to 350 feet. For this reason baleen whales such as the humpback do not have to dive as deeply at the toothed whales to capture their food source. The humpbacks are known as opportunistic eaters and will also eat different types of sea life such as mackerel and herring.

During several months in 1987, 15 whales died off the coast of New England. It appears that the whales were killed by ingesting toxic mackerel that were contaminated with naturally occurring bio-toxins known as "red tide". It is thought that the toxins had accumulated in the livers of the mackerel, and while not sufficient to kill mackerel, the doses of toxins occurring in the thousands of mackerel ingested by the whales were lethal.

Humpbacks use sophisticated and intelligent methods of catching their prey. These whales are known to blow rings of bubbles beneath schools of fish or krill. As the bubbles rise they become a "net" around the bait. The whales then swim up through the middle of this ring of bubbles with their giant jaws agape engulfing huge quantities of food and water, then swallowing the food and straining out the water. It is known that in the Summer humpback whales feed voraciously in the northern feeding grounds from the New England coast to Iceland and northern Norway. There is little for them to eat in their wintering grounds in the Antilles. By the time they arrive in Bermuda in April they have been fasting since November.

Although it is not known exactly what the whales eat off Bermuda, it is thought that they might find enough food in the deep scattering area of the waters around the island to keep them here for a short period of time before they head north to their Summer feeding grounds. Lactating females in particular may use food replenishment to sustain them during their long migration to the Summer feeding grounds. It is known from water samples around Bermuda that the annual zooplankton productivity is at its highest peak in March and April, coinciding with the arrival of the humpback whales.

In the 1950s Bermuda's own Frank Watlington taped the first haunting and beautiful song of the humpback whale. Involved in the installation, maintenance, and analysis of sounds from strategically placed hydrophones (underwater microphones) in the Atlantic for SOFAR (a joint project with Columbia University and the United States Navy), Frank noticed that some sounds being tracked in the hydrophones occurred seasonally. In the North Atlantic the sounds progressed northwards from hydrophone to hydrophone in the Spring. He knew that this type of sound was not from the ships, submarines, or underwater explosions. He soon realized that these must be sounds made by whales as they migrated north from the Antilles to their summer feeding grounds.

Frank made his own underwater taping device and captured on tape the first sounds of the humpback communicating with others of their breed.

In contrast to the sounds of blue whales, which are too low for the human ear to hear, we can hear all of a humpback's sounds. The song of the whale is composed of "notes" which are repeated in a pattern and then sung back and forth sometimes across great distances from whale to whale. In the 1960s and early 1970's, biologist Roger Payne reported that the humpback whales recorded off Bermuda also make excited mouse-like squeaking sounds as well as the lilting and haunting melodies of their songs.

Scientists have shown that only male humpback sing, and that they only do so in the breeding season. The songs are similar in function to bird songs, announcing the position of the males, their readiness to mate and possibly demonstrating their vigor through the quality of their songs.

Humpbacks are the champions of high jumping. Their entire bodies leave the water and they land on their backs with a tremendous splash and loud noise. Whales have frequently been observed leaping and joyfully playing for protracted periods of time, apparently enjoying the thrill of the jump and splash. The length of a dive depends on the reason for it. If feeding, the dive will last longer, generally from five to ten minutes. When submerging for deep and longer dives, humpbacks lift their tails flukes completely out of the water.

What is it about the humpback whales in particular that make seasoned men and women of the sea wax lyrical about their songs and speak quietly with genuine affection for these gentle giants that smoothly and effortlessly soar through the sea on wing-like fins? Divers report feeling that these leviathans comfortably and happily share water with them, that the whales approach the divers with curiosity and then carefully maneuver their flippers to avoid collision with the divers.

May the day soon come when our oceans are again populated by healthy numbers of all the whale species and that no country allows its fishermen to cause death and injury to these magnificent mammals of the sea. We should hunt whales only with our eyes and cameras, with awe and in the spirit of friendship and curiosity.

* * *

To see the incredible Humpback Whales on their migration north, join the BUEI on March 26, 29 or 30, or during the month of April from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. to get a close up look at these awe inspiring creatures in their natural habitat. This is the chance of a lifetime to see whales frolic on the surface and play with their babies! Call BUEI for more details.