Top 10 Humpback Whale Facts

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Humpback whales are cosmopolitan, living in all of the world’s oceans and traveling amazingly long distances to eat and breed each year. The humpback gets its common name not from an actual hump on its back, but rather from the large hump that forms when they arch their backs, preparing for a dive. Their scientific name, Megaptera, which is Latin for “large wing,” refers to their massive pectoral fins. There are many interesting facts about the humpback whale and here follow 10 of our favorites.

Number 10: Humpbacks have a distinctive appearance

Humpbacks are black on the upper side and spotted black and white on the underside. They have a dorsal fin on their backs and its shape and color is unique to each whale — just like a human fingerprint. Researchers use this unique feature to study whale migration, sexual maturity, population sizes, and behavior patterns. Humpback whales are large creatures that can grow between 49 and 62 feet, or 15 to 19 meters. Some of their most distinctive characteristics are their long pectoral fins, better known as flippers. These flippers can grow to a massive size of 16 feet, or 5 meters long, making them the longest flippers of any baleen whale. Although these flippers may look overly long, scientists have found they are actually very hydrodynamic and quite maneuverable. Their tails are also massive and can grow up to 18 feet, or 5.5 meters, wide. These giant whales can weigh up to 40 tons and the females are typically larger than the males.

Number 9: They have varied habitat

Humpback whales live along the coasts of all oceans, occasionally swimming close to shore, even into harbors and rivers. They undertake long migrations between polar feeding grounds in the summer and tropical or subtropical breeding grounds in winter. Some humpback populations travel as far as 5,000 miles, or 8,000 kilometers, in open ocean each year and hold the record for the longest migration in the animal kingdom. The exception to this is the humpbacks that live in the Arabian Sea, which stay there year-round, eating and mating all in the same area. These whales are also genetically distinct from other humpbacks and estimates suggest that they have remained isolated from other populations for over 70,000 years. These humpbacks don’t migrate, sticking to the waters around Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka.

Number 8: They eat a lot

In order to store up enough blubber to sustain them throughout their winter migration, humpback whales spend most of their time eating — up to 2,000 pounds, or 900 kilograms, of food each day while in feeding grounds. These large marine mammals are part of the baleen whale suborder, consuming small prey such as krill, squid, herring, haddock, mackerel, salmon, and various other fish. They are filter feeders, which involves swimming toward a group of fish or krill with their mouth open. The baleen bristles in their mouth act as a filter by trapping the prey within the bristles while allowing the water to filter through. The humpback’s varied diet makes them one of the most diverse eaters within the baleen whale family. While the adult humpback whale is known for its diverse diet, baby humpbacks start their journey by consuming their mother’s milk, just like other mammals.

Number 7: They are creative hunters

As mentioned, humpbacks often filter feed by swimming with their mouths open to catch any fish in their path, but sometimes humpback whales use a technique called “bubble-net feeding,” which is a cooperative hunting strategy that occurs within a group of whales. It is a complex, highly synchronized set of behaviors that involves communication and cooperation, demonstrating signs of high social intelligence. To bubble-net feed, whales dive deep below schools of fish and blow bubbles from their blowholes to stun and trap the fish closer to the surface. One whale generally leads the effort, followed by the rest of the group. The leader will be responsible for blowing the bubbles and the others will surround the fish, following them to the surface by swimming in spiral patterns to keep the fish tightly corralled. The whales swimming upward keep their mouths open and gulp fish from the school they have trapped.