Humpback whale

Each summer, the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) travels from sub-tropical waters, where they mate and calve, to the cool arctic waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans to feed.

The humpback is a cetacean, an order of mammal that is very well adapted to marine life. The humpback is also a baleen whale; it has baleen plates instead of teeth. The large plates allow it to filter water and catch krill, anchovies, cod, sardines, mackerel, capelin, and other schooling fish from the waters.

Humpbacks often feed in large groups and are famous for their song. Researchers are not certain why humpback whales sing. They have hypothesised that the songs attract females or are used as territorial markers.

Interesting facts
An adult humpback usually measures from 12 to 16 metres in length and can weigh up to 36 tonnes. One of the most noticeable characteristics of humpback whales are their long pectoral fins, about a third of the length of their body.

Arctic distribution and migration
There are a number of populations of humpback whale throughout the oceans of the world. The following table shows corresponding summer and winter destinations of populations that migrate to and from the Arctic.

Arctic (summer)	Sub-tropical (winter)
South-East Alaska, Prince William Sound, and British Columbia	Hawaii, the Gulf of California, Mexico and Costa Rica
Western Aleutians and Bering Sea	Northern Marinas, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Korea
Iceland, southern Greenland, Norway, Svalbard and the eastern seaboard of the US.	Caribbean and south from the southern Bahamas to Grenada, the Grenadines and Venezuela.

Threats
Humpbacks can be harmed by pollution, ship strikes, and entanglement in fishing gear (bycatch).

• Download WWF’s report: Global Priorities for Reduction of Cetacean Bycatch

Science website
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA): Report on humpbacks (PDF)

Education website
American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet: Humpback Whale