Leading-Edge Tubercles Delay Stall on Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Flippers

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is exceptional among the baleen whales in its ability to undertake acrobatic underwater maneuvers to catch prey. In order to execute these banking and turning maneuvers, humpback whales utilize extremely mobile flippers. The humpback whale flipper is uniqu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Miklosovic, D. S., Murray, M. M., Howle, L. E., Fish, F. E.
Other Authors: NAVAL ACADEMY ANNAPOLIS MD DEPT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Biology
*WHALES
MOBILITY
LEADING EDGES
MANEUVERS
FLIPPERS
AQUATIC ANIMALS
PROTUBERANCES
REPRINTS
UNDERWATER
*HUMPBACK WHALE
baleen whales
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA511517
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA511517
Description
Summary:The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is exceptional among the baleen whales in its ability to undertake acrobatic underwater maneuvers to catch prey. In order to execute these banking and turning maneuvers, humpback whales utilize extremely mobile flippers. The humpback whale flipper is unique because of the presence of large protuberances or tubercles located on the leading edge which gives this surface a scalloped appearance. We show, through wind tunnel measurements, that the addition of leading-edge tubercles to a scale model of an idealized humpback whale flipper delays the stall angle by approximately 40%, while increasing lift and decreasing drag. Published in Physics in Fluids, v16 n5 pL39-L42, May 2004. Sponsored in part by Naval Academy Research Council and U.S. Naval Academy.

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