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Animal profile

Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

MammaliaCoastal and shelf waters for feeding and breeding, open ocean on migrationLeast Concern

Field profile

The humpback whale is a stocky rorqual with enormously long flippers and a knobbly head, reaching about 16 metres. It feeds on krill and small schooling fish, sometimes by blowing curtains of bubbles to concentrate prey. Most populations have recovered strongly since commercial whaling ended.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-06-24

Humpback Whale

Humpback songs travel east across the Pacific

All the males in a breeding population sing broadly the same song, and that song is periodically replaced wholesale by a new one imported from the west. The replacement has been tracked moving from Australia across the South Pacific over several years.

Read with evidence →

Humpback Whale | Daily Animal Facts