An amazing maternal moment was caught on camera by wildlife photographer Steven Hinczynski. A massive humpback whale is shown snuggling up to her young, graceful despite the enormity of both creatures (in the photo shown above).
It's a fairly well-known fact that whales are extremely family-oriented creatures. During courtship, a male whale will sing intricate songs to the female, and they form lasting bonds with the resulting baby whales, reported One Green Planet. They are emotional and loving animals that seem to show love in a similar way to humans: they get close and snuggle.
Baby humpback whales can weigh roughly one ton and measure 10-15 feet long at the time of birth. They can grow up to 50 feet and weigh up to 40 tons, reported Oceana. These animals are almost too large to imagine! They'd take up most of the space in your average high school gym.
Every year, humpback whales travel 16,000 miles to get from where they feed, at the Earth's poles, and where they give birth, the tropics. That's one animal that really loves to move around!
They were nearly hunted to extinction by the mid-60s, but have now been saved due to preservation efforts, reported Oceana. They are now a species of least concern, which sounds negative but means that they're doing completely fine on their own!
If you're intrigued by humpback whales, wait until you hear these courtship songs they sing, like the ones in this videouploaded by Santos TV. No wonder they were able to repopulate so well!
