Humpback Whales Sing the Longest Songs on Earth

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are famous for their hauntingly beautiful songs — complex, evolving compositions that can last for hours and travel hundreds of miles through the ocean. These gentle giants are also one of the great conservation success stories of the 20th century.

Why Do Humpback Whales Sing?

Only male humpbacks sing, and they sing almost exclusively during breeding season. The songs are thought to attract females and warn off rival males. What's remarkable is that all males in the same ocean sing the same song — and the song evolves together over time as new phrases spread through the population.

How Big Are Humpback Whales?

Humpbacks grow to 40–60 feet (12–18 m) in length and weigh up to 80,000 lbs. Their pectoral fins are the longest of any animal — up to 16 feet long — giving them their scientific name Megaptera ("big-winged").

What Do Humpback Whales Eat?

Humpbacks are baleen whales — they have plates of baleen (like stiff bristles) that filter small prey from seawater. They eat krill, small fish, and plankton. Their most spectacular feeding behavior is bubble net feeding: a group of whales blows bubbles in a spiral to herd fish into a tight ball, then lunges upward through it with mouth open.

How Far Do Humpbacks Migrate?

Humpback whales make one of the longest migrations of any mammal — up to 16,000 miles round trip annually. They feed in polar waters in summer and travel to tropical breeding grounds in winter. They can travel up to 3,000 miles without eating.

Amazing Humpback Whale Facts

• Humpbacks can breach completely out of the water — a 40-ton leap — possibly to communicate or remove parasites.
• They were hunted to near extinction — down to 10,000 individuals by the 1960s. Now recovered to 80,000+.
• Humpbacks have been observed protecting other species (seals, dolphins, sunfish) from orca attacks — for unknown reasons.
• Their lifespan is up to 90 years.