Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetartiodactyla
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: Megaptera
Species: Megaptera novaeangliae

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a large baleen whale reaching about 15 m, with a knobbly head, a small dorsal fin on a hump and enormously long flippers. The black-and-white pattern under its tail flukes is unique to each individual and is used by researchers to identify them.

Humpbacks migrate between cold feeding grounds and warm breeding grounds. In tropical waters they do not feed; instead males sing long, complex songs while mothers nurse newborn calves, and breaching and tail-slapping are common.

In the Philippines a small breeding population returns each year, roughly from January to April, to the waters around the Babuyan Islands in northern Luzon, with occasional sightings elsewhere in the country. Whale-watching here should follow national guidelines on approach distance.

Photo: Lawrence Hylton, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist