REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
MARINE LIFE PROTECTION SERIES – HUMPBACK WHALES
1998 GOLD $100 COIN - COLORIZED
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 70 ULTRA CAMEO (ONLY PROOF 70 CERTIFIED BY NGC - FINEST KNOWN)
ONLY 125 MINTED!!!
OBV: NATIONAL ARMS WITH SUPPORTERS; DATE BENEATH.
REV: TWO HUMPBACK WHALES SWIMMING UNDER THE SEA RIGHT (SCENE COLORIZED); BEADED OUTER CIRCLE OF GOLD WITH STYLIZED WAVE PATTERN; DENOMINATION AT BOTTOM.
THE HUMPBACK WHALE (MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE) IS A BALEEN WHALE SPECIES (AS OPPOSED TO A TOTTHED WHALE SPECIES), THEAVERAGE ADULT SIZE RANGES IN LENGTH FROM 39 TO 52 FEET, AND WEIGH UP TO 79,000 POUNDS. THE DISTINCTIVE SHAPE OF THEIR BODY HAS LONG PECTORAL FINS, A KNOBBLY HEAD, STOCKY BODIES AND OVIOUS HUMP. BEACUASE THEY FREQUENTLY SPECTACULARLY BREACH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER TO BREATHE, AND OTHER INTERESTING SURFACE BEHAVIORS, THEY ARE EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH WHALE WATCHERS. THE COLD WATERS OF WALVIS BAY ON NAMIBIA’S DESERT COASTLINE IS A PRIME LOCALE FOR VIEWING THESE MAJESTIC CREATURES.
HUMPBACKS MIGRATE AROUND 16,000 MILES A YEAR, FEEDING ON KRILL AND SMALL FISH IN COLD AND POLAR WATERS, AND BREEDING AND GIVING BIRTH IN SUB-TROPICAL AND TROPICAL WATERS. THEY ARE A FRIENDLY SPECIES IN REGARDS TO OTHER CETACEANS, AND HAVE EVEN BEEN KNOWN TO FEND OF PREDATORS FROM SEALS, DOLPHIN AND OTHER WHALES. BOTH MALES AND FEMALES VOCALIZE, BUT THE MALES PRODUCE A LOUD AND COMPLEX SONG. THIS CAN LAST FROM 10 TO 20 MINUTES, OR UP TO 24 HOURS OF CONTINUOUS SINGING. ALL WHALES IN AN AREA SING THE SAME SONG.
ONCE THE HUMPBACK WAS A PRIME TARGET FOR THE WHALING INDUSTRY, AND THEY WERE HUNTED TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION. THERE WAS A MORATORIUM ON HUNTING IN 1966, AND ALTHOUGH THEIR NUMBERS HAVE REBOUNDED, THE ESTIMATED 80,000 CURRENT POPULATION IS STILL IMPACTED BY ENTANGLEMENT IN FISHING GEAR, COLLISIONS WITH SHIPPING, AND NOISE POLLUTION WHICH AFFECTS THEM GREATLY.
KM # 15
CONTAINS 31.1 GRAMS OF 9999 FINE GOLD
1 OZ AGW
ONLY 125 MINTED!
37 MM IN DIAMETER
