Humpback whale
Amazing fact
Humpback whales can be identified by features including their tail patterns and shapes.
NOAA Fisheries
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Humpback whales can be identified by features including their tail patterns and shapes.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Humpback whale
- Scientific name
- Megaptera novaeangliae
- Japanese name
- ザトウクジラ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Balaenopteridae
- Genus
- Megaptera
Where the name “Humpback whale” comes from
Its English name, humpback, refers to the hump on its back.
NOAA FisheriesA whale found in oceans all around the world. It is known for traveling very long distances every year.
It has long flippers, and part of its scientific name means 'big-winged'. Its head and jaws are covered with many bumps.
It may trap fish inside a curtain of air bubbles, then lunge up from below and swallow them all at once.
How the Humpback whale lives
During warmer months, it feeds and builds up fat stores. It strains seawater through baleen to eat small fish and krill. It leaps out of the water and slaps the surface with its flippers or tail.
NOAA FisheriesBasic data
- Size
- 13–15 m
- Weight
- 30–40 t
Where the Humpback whale has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ザトウクジラ
- 简体中文
- 大翅鲸
- 繁體中文
- 大翅鯨
- 한국어
- 혹등고래
- Español
- Ballena jorobada
- Français
- Baleine à bosse
- Deutsch
- Buckelwal
- Português (Brasil)
- Baleia-jubarte
- Italiano
- Megattera
- हिन्दी
- humpback whale
- العربية
- جمل البحر
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Paus bungkuk
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá voi lưng gù
- Русский
- Горбатый кит
- Türkçe
- Kambur balina
- ไทย
- วาฬหลังค่อม
- বাংলা
- কুঁজো তিমি
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- NOAA Fisheries — Humpback whaleChecked: 2026-11-03
- 国立科学博物館 海棲哺乳類データベース — ザトウクジラChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
Others in Balaenopteridae
MORE TO MEET
