Humpback Health

The microbes on a whale’s skin could provide clues to its health. In a recent study, WHOI microbiologist Amy Apprill collected skin samples from humpback whales in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and South Pacific Oceans. She found two core groups of bacteria on the skin of healthy whales, but more potential pathogens on the skin of stressed and deceased individuals. MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Tyler Rohr photographed this humpback in waters off the West Antarctic Peninsula while working on a different research project let by Rutgers biological oceanographer Oscar Schofield. The bumps visible on the humpback’s skin are called tubercles. (Photo by Tyler Rohr, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)