Humpback whale

The humpback whale is a giant animal that lives in the sea. It is one of the biggest animals in the whole world and can grow as long as a big bus. Even though it is so large, it is a gentle whale that eats very tiny food.

Humpbacks have very long front flippers, longer than those of any other whale. Their name comes from the little hump on their back that shows when they curve down to dive. They love to leap right up out of the water, which is called breaching, and to slap the surface with their flippers and tails.

To eat, humpbacks gulp up krill, which are tiny shrimp-like creatures, along with small fish. They have a clever trick called bubble-net feeding: a whale blows a ring of bubbles to herd the fish into a tight bunch, then swims up through the middle with its huge mouth open. Sometimes a group of whales makes the bubble net together as a team.

Male humpbacks are famous for singing. Their songs are long and full of different sounds, and one song can carry a very long way through the water. Whales in the same part of the ocean often sing the same tune.

Every year humpback whales swim thousands of miles between the cold seas where they feed and the warmer seas where mothers have their babies, called calves. Long ago so many humpbacks were hunted that very few were left, but hunting has mostly stopped and their numbers are growing again. It is a happy comeback story for one of the ocean’s most-loved animals.