Hummers Whale

Hummer's Whales are a medium sized whale that live in the cool waters north of Evirs. They are commonly hunted for their oil and meat. They are highly intelligent creatures with a complex communication system. Like all whales, they are capable of communicating through whistles, clicks, and grunts. Ther merfolk have discovered that the whales are able to convey information about the type and direction of fish through their calls. They also appear to give each other names with specific sounds used between mother and child whales which aren't used anywhere else. The whales are able to live for for sixty years. They primarily eat fish but will sometimes eat young seals and diving birds if they can catch them. They hunt in pods and often develop strong social relationships with one another. Adult whales will often recognize other adults from their mother's pod. Males without a pod of females form bachelor pods and tend to be more aggressive. The males possess white spots while the females are solid grey. The calves are slow to develop and often spend the first five years of life with their mother and her pod before being kicked out. Lone whales are the most vulnerable to attach from other deep sea creatures until they find a new pod. Females need to be welcomed in by the dominant female of the pod, and males need to fight for dominance against another male or find a lone female to start a pod with. They hunt fish by blowing bubbles and forming bubble nets that drive the fish to the surface where they're easier to catch. A single pod can decimate an entire school of fish in a matter of hours. Diving birds will often times look for the bubble nets from the surface and pick off whatever fish they can get. Their current names comes from Edrik Hummer, a marine biologist who first documented the whales in Kealriv. However, their existence was known well before then.