humpback whales article

Humpback whales are enormous creatures — about the size of a school bus. They are known for their haunting and melodic songs and for breaching the water with amazing acrobatic abilities.

Humpbacks don't normally have a hump on their backs; the name comes from the large hump that forms when they arch their backs before making a deep dive into the ocean. The scientific name, Megaptera novaeangliae, means "big-winged New Englander" because the population that swam off New England was the best known to Europeans, according to the NOAA)

Size

Humpback whales are not the biggest — that's the blue whale. Humpbacks can grow to 60 feet (18 meters) long, and they can weigh a whopping 40 tons (about half the size of a blue whale), according to the NOAA. Their flippers can grow up to 16 feet (5 m) long, which is the largest appendage in the world. Their tails are also massive and grow up to 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. Like most whales, females are larger than males.

Humpbacks' heads are broad and rounded and covered with knobs, called tubercles. Each knob contains atleast 1 stiff hair, according to the American Cetacean Society (ACS). The purpose of the hairs is not known, but it is thought that they may be motion detectors. 

Humpbacks are black on the upper (dorsal) side and mottled black and white on the under (ventral) side. Ventral pleats run from the tip of the lower jaw to the belly, according to the ACS. They have a dorsal fin on their backs. The shape and color pattern on the dorsal fin and flukes is unique to each individual, like human fingerprints. That discovery has helped researchers identify, catalog and monitor humpback whale migration, population size, sexual maturity and behavior patterns.

Habitat

Humpbacks roam all over the world, but exactly where they may be found depends on the time of year. In the summer, many humpbacks spend their time in high-latitude feeding areas such of the Gulf of Alaska or the Gulf of Maine, according to the NOAA. During the winter, they swim to the warm waters closer to the Equator, around Hawaii, South America and Africa.

The exception is the humpbacks that live in the Arabian Sea. They stay there year-round, eating and mating all in the same area, according to the ACS.