| Endangered Species: Humpback Whale |
Submitted by: Panda, Grade 5
Christiansburg Elementary School
Christiansburg VA USA
Why Study This Topic?
My animal is
a Humpback whale. I would like to know more about this animal. I
want to know what it eats, and why it lives were it does. There are things
that people need to know about these animals and other endangered animals
to protect them.
I think
that people should be able to see these animals more often. People don't
understand that its their responsibility to keep this animal alive so their
great grandchildren can see them in their natural habitat.
I
am interested in this animal because it is an amazing creature and an endangered
species. I think it is our responsibility to keep them alive because we
were the ones who killed them for our own needs and didn't consider its
needs. There aren't many Humpback whales left in the ocean.
What Was Already Known
Before I researched my animal I
only knew a little bit of information about the Humpback whale. I knew
only the following facts: I knew that this animal lived in the water; I
knew it was a mammal; and I also knew it was a large whale.
I didn't know anything else
about my animal, except that its predator is the Killer whale, and that
it is an Arctic animal.
My animal was not an animal that
someone would know a lot about if that person never studied it. That
is probably because it is an endangered species, and it is not one of our
every day animals.
Search for Information
I searched the Inernet at the following
web sites:
http:// www. webcom.com/~iwcwww/whale_adoption/babytale.html,http://
www.acsonline.org/factpack/humpback.htm,http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/
wildlife/geninfol/games/humpback.htm,http://collections.ic.gc.calarctic/species/humpback.htm
http://www.nature.calnotebooks/english/humpwale.htm.
I also looked in World Book Encyclopedia.
From my information I found out its mating habits, where it lives, what
it eats, how long it is, how much it weighs, and its life style.
Description of Plant or Animal
The Humpback whale is a 3-2 ton
whale. It gets up to 80 feet in length and has an oval-shaped body.
The Humpback whale has a large amount of bumps on its skin. That
is how it got its name. This giant whale is a baleen whale. That
is a whale that opens its mouth and lets water fill its stomach. Then it
closes its teeth and pushes out all of the water in its mouth, leaving
only the small fish that the whale eats in its mouth. The whale is not
the largest animal, but it has an extremely large amount of strength for
its size.
Habitat Requirements
The animal I am studying is a baleen
whale. Therefore, it needs water and the small fish it eats. My animal
is very large in size and in strength. That is why it needs a large amount
of space. It also needs shelter from its predators, but this animal can
only swim or dive for safety. My animal lives in the sea, so it also needs
salt water. It also needs space to raise its young and migrate. My animal
also needs the ability to live its life peacefully.
My animal needs a new mate every year. Sometimes
that is hard to find. My animal also needs the ability to live in its natural
habitat not in an aquarium or zoo.
Adaptations
The Humpback
whale has few natural enemies. However, the killer whale is its main
predator. The Humpback whale is a baleen whale, so its prey is small krill
that live in the Arctic Ocean. This animal has dark blue coloring
that helps it blend in with the water. Although this whale has some camouflage,
it is not very difficult to spot it in the water. The Humpback whale has
other strategies that it can take to protect its self from its human predator
that is hunting it such as diving underwater or swimming away from danger.
Reasons for Endangerment
The main reason that the Humpback whale
is endangered is because of humans. People used to just kill them for their
meat and skin. People only worried about themselves, and not about what
killing the Humpback whale would do to its population.
If people thought before
killing this whale there might be more of them left. However, people
may learn from their mistakes and realize that every living thing has a
right to survive, no matter what it looks like. Everything will always
deserve to live. Maybe one day the Humpback whale's population will be
as large as it was a long time ago.
Restoration Actions
The government has made laws against
hunting the Humpback Whale. The only human who is legally allowed to hunt
the HumpBack whale is the eskimo. The only reason they are
allowed to hunt this species is because they rely on the meat. Even if
the Eskimo are allowed to kill this whale, they still have a limited
amount they can hunt every year.
However I think they should not
be allowed to hunt this species either. The reason I think this is because
even with a limited amount of hunting pressure this species still might
become extinct.
What Was Learned
I learned a lot about the Humpback
whale. I learned its predator, prey ,size ,color , shape , lifestyle, and
mating habits. I also learned that the Humpback whale is extremely
endangered. There are only 15 to 20 thousand left in the world.
That is only 15% of its original population.
I learned a lot about computers.
I learned how to link things and how to make a slide-show presentation.
Conclusions From Research
I think that it is our responsibility
to keep the Humpback whale alive.The reason I think this is because people
are the main reason this species is endangered. If humans wouldn't
hunt this animal, it might still have a large population.
Although humans have hunted them so long, people learn from their mistakes,
and realize right from wrong. I feel that people should stop hunting this
animal. I think this because the Humpback whale has a right to live as
much as we do.
Bibliography
http://whales.magna.com.au/DISCOVER/HUMP/index.html
http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/geninfo/game/humpback.htm
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/arctic/species/humpback.htm
Return to Mammal page.
If you would like to add to these Endangered Species
pages then email your contributions to Christiansburg
Elementary
© copyright 2000
Christiansburg Elementary |
Last updated on February 3, 2000
|