Animal · United States, Australia, Tonga
Humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The humpback whale is famous for its long pectoral fins, spectacular breaches, and haunting underwater songs. It migrates further than almost any other mammal, between polar feeding and tropical breeding grounds.
Picture credit: Buiobuione (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Jarek Tuszyński (CC BY 4.0) · Jakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the humpback whale live?
Home: Oceans worldwide, migrating between polar feeding and tropical breeding grounds.
In the wild you find it in: United States, Australia, Tonga, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Norway.
Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.
The short profile
Fully grown it measures 14–17 m long. It weighs about 30 000 kilograms. On the menu: tiny creatures it filters out of the water.
The story behind it
Humpback whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, travelling up to 8,000 km one way between cold, food-rich waters near the poles and warm tropical seas where they breed and give birth, often eating very little along the way. Males sing complex, repeating songs that can last over 20 minutes and are heard by other whales many kilometres away; whales in the same region often sing similar songs that slowly change over the years. Humpbacks are famous for breaching, throwing their whole body out of the water, and for a clever hunting trick called bubble-net feeding, where a group blows a spiral of bubbles to trap fish before lunging up through the middle. Once hunted heavily by whalers, humpback populations have recovered well and the species is now least concern.
Find it on the globe
Humpback whale is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How far do humpback whales migrate?
Humpback whales can migrate up to 8,000 km one way between their polar feeding grounds and tropical breeding areas, one of the longest journeys of any mammal. Some individuals repeat this journey every single year.
Why do humpback whales sing?
Male humpback whales sing long, complex songs, likely to attract females or communicate with other males. Songs can last over 20 minutes, are heard for many kilometres underwater, and slowly change from year to year.
What is bubble-net feeding?
Bubble-net feeding is a hunting technique where a group of humpback whales swims in a circle below a school of fish, blowing bubbles to form a rising net that traps the fish before the whales lunge upward together to feed.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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