09/21/2026
The humpback whale is one of the largest of the baleen whales and the only one that vocalizes. The male humpback croons an eerie complex song that may last from 10 to 20 minutes, is repeated for hours at a time, and changes gradually over the years. The whale song is not well understood but thought to play an important role in mate selection. So are the acrobatic displays of groups of two to 20 males gathered around a single female—displays which include breaching, spy-hopping, lob-tailing, tail-slapping, flipper-slapping, charging, and parrying
Humpbacks are powerful swimmers and use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to propel themselves through the water, and sometimes into the air—landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists aren't sure if breaching serves a purpose, such as cleaning pests from the whale's skin or attracting a mate, or whether whales simply do it for fun.
Adult female humpbacks average 49 ft (15 m) in length and weigh approximately 35 tons. Males are slightly smaller. The humpback has a distinctly robust shape and is predominately black with varying degrees of white on the throat, belly, flippers, and flukes. The humpback is distinguished from other whales by its very long flippers (as much as a third of the whale’s length) with large k***s on the leading edge.
Humpback feed mostly on tiny shrimp called krill and various small schooling fishes. A humpback can eat up to 1.5 tons of food per day using the baleen in its mouth as a sieve. Baleen are the fringed plates which hang down from either side of the upper jaw. Humpbacks have 270 to 400 baleen plates, each about 30-inches long. As they feed, the pleated grooves in their throat expand to allow them to take in large volumes of water and food. As the mouth closes, water is forced through the baleen plates trapping food.