Humpbacks are widely distributed in all oceans, ranging from tropical wintering grounds near islands and continental coasts to open-ocean temperate and sub-polar summering habitats.

How can I identify a humpback whale?

They are 50 feet (15.2 meters) long--about as long as a school bus. Humpback whales are mostly black or gray (although they sometimes appear brown) with the undersides of their flukes, flippers and bellies white. They have two blow holes, a small dorsal fin, and long flippers. Humpback whales are extremely active and do lots of flipper and fluke slapping and tend to breach more than any other baleen whale species.

How well can a humpback whale see or hear?

It is thought that baleen whales (including humpback whales) have excellent hearing, especially at low frequencies, which is valuable in the dark ocean environment where vision is less useful.

How do humpback whales communicate?

Male humpback whales produce a long-series of calls often called "songs" that can usually be heard during the winter breeding season, although song components are sometimes recorded during the summer as well. Researchers are unsure why humpback whales sing. It could be to attract females or to notify other whales that they are in the area.

The most amazing part of humpback whale songs is that the whales create themes and may repeat the same song for hours, broken only by pauses for breath. Humpback whale songs can last for 20 minutes and they sometimes repeat the song for hours.

What do humpback whales eat?

Humpbacks are baleen whales which means they filter their food through baleen plates. They consume krill, anchovies, cod, sardines, mackerel, capelin, and others sorts of schooling fish.

Some humpbacks have a very unusual way of catching their food. They make nets to catch their prey called "bubble nets" with the air that they release from their blow holes. The whales dive deep then swim up in a spiral pattern, all the while releasing a steady stream of bubbles. As the bubbles rise they form a bubble cage which traps the fish or plankton that the whales are pursuing. Then the whales swim up through the center of the bubble cage with their jaws open and capture a great gulp of food.

How do humpback whales have their young?

Humpback whales are probably old enough to mate at about 7 years of age. Females are pregnant for about 11 to 12 months and get pregnant approximately every two to four years. Calves are born able to swim and can grow 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) per month while nursing. Females nurse their new born calves in warm, shallow water.

Humpbacks have very complicated courtship behaviors and many male humpbacks can surround a female and compete with each other to get close to the female. Sometimes the competition involves males lunging at and bashing into each other. At the end of the mating and calving season, humpback whales migrate to cold, productive waters to feed.

How long do humpback whales live? Why do they die?

Because of an absence of teeth (which can be used to estimate age in other mammals), it is difficult to tell the age of a humpback whale. Life expectancy for humpback whales may be up to 80 years.