Talk:Humpback whale

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Humpback whale is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on October 15, 2004.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 29, 2004	Featured article candidate	Promoted
April 25, 2007	Featured article review	Kept

Current status: Featured article

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This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Kathy Carvajal (July 28, 2009). "Dead Whale Buried at Beach". WNYW.

Article issues

Unlike other FA, this article needs help including GA Sperm whale, but this is far worst. 2001:4455:1A9:E100:58ED:9A2:3A1A:9A5C (talk) 11:45, 1 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Article should be sent into FAR, it still needs some cleanup and contains a lot of ^{[citation needed]}. 2001:4455:364:A800:64F3:4255:1433:C28 (talk) 02:51, 27 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Featured article review needed

Listed at WP:FARGIVEN by IP above. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 03:10, 27 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Didn't see this notice. I'll do some improving this weekend. LittleJerry (talk) 14:42, 3 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SandyGeorgia but I'd like to add that the IP doesn't elaborate on anything aside from the cite notes. LittleJerry (talk) 00:08, 4 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but since it's an IP, I don't know how to commmunicate. If you are able to do some cleanup, ping me and I will have a look. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:29, 4 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Will do more tonight or tomorrow. LittleJerry (talk) 16:45, 6 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SandyGeorgia, mostly done with the cleanup but I listed it for a copyedit. LittleJerry (talk) 00:41, 22 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't followed closely, but have kept it watchlisted and see that, wow, this article gets clobbered by random IP edits. Please ping me when copyedit is done, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:46, 22 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SandyGeorgia, ready. LittleJerry (talk) 12:03, 8 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SandyGeorgia, would you consider this Satisfactory? LittleJerry (talk) 01:54, 30 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It looks in fair shape from overall structure and prose. I will look up more recent research to see what else needs updating a bit later - specifically current population, whaling, taxonomy, maybe adding a sentence or two on Wilhelmina Bay rather than just Seealso. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 01:33, 12 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Cas Liber, don't forget to add info on parasites. LittleJerry (talk) 22:29, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pending revisions

@Casliber and LittleJerry: is pending revisions sufficient for the protection on this Featured article? Since LittleJerry started working, I've kept the article watchlisted, and a pending revision is popping up almost daily. LittleJerry, is semi-protection needed? Are the IP edits generally helpful or are they poor quality? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:32, 25 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That was me, I forgot to log into my account. LittleJerry (talk) 15:33, 25 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Ah ha! Thanks :) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:45, 25 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Most of the time I find Pending Changes more trouble than it's worth. Some of the IP edits are for helpful links though. It depends how one weighs the attractiveness of being able to edit vs time consumed reviewing. I'd be inclined (weakly) to leave as is though would have no problem with semiprotection Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 22:59, 25 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If LittleJerry is happy with the level, no prob leaving it. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:52, 26 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion re: section on feeding behaviour, include other feeding strategies

Now it only mentions bubble‑net feeding, suggesting that's the only foraging technique humpback whales use (though one of the most interesting, of course!)

"Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as a species are generalist predators that are known to exhibit a wide variety of foraging strategies. These include lunge-feeding (e.g., Jurasz and Jurasz 1979), bubble-net-feeding (e.g., Jurasz and Jurasz 1979, D’Vincent et al. 1985, Sharpe2001), ﬂick-feeding (Jurasz and Jurasz 1979, Ford 2014), bottom-feeding (Hain et al. 1995), and lobtail‑feeding (Weinrich et al. 1992)." [1]

Now also with the novel (or not so novel: [2]), recently observed foraging strategy of trap‑feeding, vis the links to the papers.

Apologies – I am not a biologist, so I would not dare to edit a Featured level‑4 Biology article myself, just making a suggestion for possible improvement.

Technicality nitpicker (talk) 10:27, 3 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion, Humpbacks actively protecting humans from sharks and sealions from sharks and/or orcas

Very fascinating behavior that's worth adding as there are multiple instances

"Hauser was pushed around by the whale for nearly 10 minutes, as the whale also used its head and mouth to keep her away from the shark. The whale even lifts Hauser out of the water at one point.

Once Hauser spotted the shark she realized what the whale was doing and tried to stay calm to not startle the whale. As Hauser returns to the safety of her research boat, she informs her team of the shark and the whale surfaces again to check on her." https://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/humpback-whale-protects-marine-biologist-from-tiger-shark-video

At first it seemed like the usual, deviously clever attack. Several killer whales were trying to catch a Weddell seal that had taken refuge atop a drifting patch of Antarctic ice. The orcas swam alongside each other, creating a wave that knocked the hapless pinniped into the water. Death seemed certain.

Then something amazing happened: A pair of humpback whales turned up. As the panicked seal swam toward them, a lucky wave tossed it onto the chest of the closer, upturned whale. The whale arched its chest out of the water, which kept the seal away from the charging killer whales. And when the seal started to fall off, the whale carefully pushed it back onto its chest with a flipper. Soon after that, the seal scrambled to safety on another ice floe.https://www.science.org/content/article/why-did-humpback-whale-just-save-seals-life

https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/inspire/life/why-humpback-whales-protect-other-species-from-killer-whales NotBond007 (talk) 12:46, 16 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]