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Wildlife Guide · Brazil

Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

The ocean's great singer, leaping back from the brink of whaling.

Least Concern globally (recovering) — but several subpopulations remain Endangered
A humpback whale breaching clear of the ocean surface, its long white-edged pectoral fins outstretched and knobbly head streaming water, against a blue sea and sky.

Image: Source: Wikimedia Commons via Wikipedia “Humpback whale” — verify license before production

In brief

A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a large filter-feeding baleen whale found in oceans worldwide, known for its long pectoral fins, acrobatic breaching, and the complex songs sung by males during the breeding season.

By the WARN Research & Conservation TeamChecked against IUCN Red List & CITES sourcesLast updated

The humpback whale is a large baleen whale famous for its haunting, hours-long songs, acrobatic breaches and enormous wing-like flippers. Once hunted to near-extinction, most populations are recovering strongly, and each winter thousands gather to breed in warm tropical waters such as Brazil's Abrolhos Bank. Yet entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships still kill humpbacks across their migratory range.

~84,000

Mature whales worldwide (IUCN, 2018)

Up to 16 m

Body length — females larger than males

~8,000 km

One-way migration, feeding to breeding grounds

~9,200

Humpbacks estimated off the Abrolhos breeding ground (2019 survey)

Figures sourced from IUCN Red List — Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whale), 2018 assessment, IUCN — Humpback whale on road to recovery, reveals IUCN Red List, NOAA Fisheries — Humpback Whale species profile and other references on this page.

Humpback Whale: Quick Facts

Vital statistics and key facts about the Humpback Whale
Lifespan ~80–90 years
Weight ~25–30 tonnes (up to ~40)
Length ~14–16 m; females larger
Diet Krill and small schooling fish (filter feeder)
Gestation About 11 months
Young per birth 1 calf, usually every 2–3 years
Top speed Up to ~25 km/h (16 mph) in bursts
Baby name Calf
Group name Pod
CITES Appendix I

Scientific Classification

Scientific classification of the Humpback Whale
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Artiodactyla (Cetacea)
Family Balaenopteridae
Genus Megaptera
Species Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)

Conservation Status

IUCN Status
Least Concern (global), 2018 — population increasing; several subpopulations Endangered
Population
~84,000 mature individuals worldwide (IUCN, 2018)
Trend
Increasing
Assessed
2018
CITES
Appendix I

The global Least Concern listing reflects strong recovery from whaling, but it masks at-risk regional groups: the IUCN still assesses subpopulations such as the Arabian Sea humpback as Endangered, and several distinct population segments are protected as endangered under national law.

Did you know?

Only male humpbacks sing — and their songs spread like hit tunes, with new versions passing from one population to another across an entire ocean.

Key Facts: Humpback Whale

  • Globally the humpback whale is listed as Least Concern with an increasing population — a major conservation success after commercial whaling cut numbers by over 90%.
  • Despite the healthy global picture, several regional subpopulations (including the Arabian Sea) remain Endangered, so a single status badge can be misleading.
  • Only male humpbacks sing the long, structured songs, which evolve over time and spread between populations across an ocean basin.
  • Brazil's Abrolhos Bank is the main breeding and calving ground for the Western South Atlantic population, hosting roughly 9,200 whales by a 2019 survey.
  • Humpbacks filter-feed on krill and small schooling fish, sometimes using cooperative 'bubble-net' feeding to corral prey.
  • The biggest modern threats are entanglement in fishing gear and marine debris, plus collisions with ships (vessel strikes).

Recovery success, with regional exceptions

Twentieth-century commercial whaling devastated humpback whales, reducing some populations by more than 90 percent before the International Whaling Commission's 1985 moratorium gave them protection. The recovery since has been dramatic: the IUCN reassessed the species as Least Concern in 2018, with a global population trend described as increasing and roughly 84,000 mature individuals. That headline figure hides important variation, however. The IUCN still recognises Endangered subpopulations such as the Arabian Sea humpbacks, and several distinct population segments remain protected as endangered under national law. The species as a whole is rebounding, but specific regional groups are not yet safe.

Song, breaching and behaviour

Humpbacks are among the most behaviourally striking of all whales. Males produce long, hierarchically structured songs that can last many minutes and repeat for hours, mainly on the breeding grounds; these songs change gradually through a season and can be transmitted from one population to another across vast distances. Above the surface, humpbacks are famous acrobats, hurling their roughly 25-to-30-tonne bodies clear of the water in spectacular breaches and slapping the surface with their long pectoral fins and tail flukes. When feeding, groups may blow curtains of bubbles to herd krill and small fish into dense balls before lunging through them.

Brazil's Abrolhos breeding ground

Each austral winter, humpbacks of the Western South Atlantic population migrate north from Antarctic feeding waters to breed and calve along the Brazilian coast, with the shallow Abrolhos Bank off Bahia serving as the core nursery. This aggregation was hammered by whaling but has recovered strongly: an aerial survey in 2019 estimated around 9,200 whales using the area, a large share of the total off Brazil. The bank's warm, sheltered waters make it one of the most important humpback breeding sites in the Southern Hemisphere and a focus for whale-watching and marine protection.

Threats and what rescue involves

The main hazards to humpbacks today are human-made. Whales become entangled in ropes, nets and other fishing gear, which can wound, exhaust or drown them, and they are struck by vessels along busy coastal and shipping routes. Underwater noise and pollution add further pressure. Responding involves trained disentanglement teams who carefully cut gear from live whales, networks that report strikes and strandings, measures to slow or reroute ships in whale hotspots, and gear changes that reduce entanglement risk — all underpinned by monitoring that tracks whether each population is truly recovering.

Humpback whale vs. blue whale: how to tell two great whales apart

FeatureHumpback WhaleBlue Whale
Scientific nameMegaptera novaeangliaeBalaenoptera musculus
Typical length~14–16 m~24–30 m (largest animal ever)
Pectoral finsVery long, up to ~1/3 of bodyShort relative to body
Body shape & colourStocky, knobbly head; dark with white throat/flippersLong, slender; mottled blue-grey
Famous behaviourSings; frequent breaching and fin-slappingLoud low-frequency calls; rarely breaches
IUCN status (global)Least Concern, increasing (2018)Endangered (2018)

What WARN Does

WARN CIC is a registered global not-for-profit animal welfare organisation that funds local partner shelters, sanctuaries and rescue teams across its partner network. Humpback whales range across every ocean, far beyond any single country, so WARN's role here is twofold: backing partner-led marine work in its funded focus country of Brazil — where the Abrolhos breeding ground makes whale disentanglement, stranding response and coastal protection locally relevant — and using guides like this to raise wider awareness of the entanglement and ship-strike threats humpbacks face throughout their migrations. WARN does not claim to run whale rescue itself; it channels support to the local groups doing the work.

Humpbacks are recovering, but every entangled whale and ship strike still counts. Your gift helps WARN fund the Brazilian partner teams working along the Abrolhos breeding coast to respond to strandings and keep these waters safe for the next generation of calves.

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Humpback Whale: Frequently Asked Questions

How long do humpback whales live?
Humpback whales typically live around 80 to 90 years. Like other large baleen whales they are slow to mature and long-lived, with age often estimated from layers in their earwax plugs.

What do humpback whales eat?
They are filter feeders that strain small prey through baleen plates, mainly krill and small schooling fish such as herring, anchovies and sand lance. A humpback can eat well over a tonne of food a day during the feeding season.

How big do humpback whales get?
Adults reach roughly 14 to 16 metres long and can weigh around 25 to 30 tonnes, with females growing slightly larger than males. Their pectoral fins are the longest of any whale, up to about a third of the body length.

Are humpback whales dangerous to humans?
No. Humpbacks are not aggressive toward people and feed on tiny prey, not humans. They are powerful wild animals, though, so boats and swimmers should keep a respectful distance to avoid injury from their huge fins and flukes.

How many humpback whales are left?
The IUCN's 2018 assessment estimated about 84,000 mature humpback whales worldwide, with the population increasing overall. Even so, several regional subpopulations, such as the Arabian Sea group, remain Endangered.

Why were humpback whales endangered?
Commercial whaling in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries cut humpback numbers by more than 90 percent in many regions. They have recovered strongly since the 1985 whaling moratorium, but entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes remain serious threats.

What is a baby humpback whale called?
A baby humpback whale is called a calf. A mother gives birth to a single calf after about an 11-month pregnancy and nurses it on rich milk for up to a year.

Where do humpback whales live?
Humpback Whales live in Brazil. A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a large filter-feeding baleen whale found in oceans worldwide, known for its long pectoral fins, acrobatic breaching, and the complex songs sung by males during the breeding season.

Sources & References

Population figures, conservation status and biological facts on this page are drawn from authoritative scientific and intergovernmental sources.

Terms used on this page

Plain-English definitions, from our wildlife and conservation glossary.

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