AnimalvsAnimal
Humpback whales in singing position🐾

Photo: Dr · Public domain

SpeciesCetaceaBalaenopteridae
Marine mammals

🐾Humpback whale

Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)

La Baleine à bosse, le Mégaptère, la Jubarte ou, au Canada francophone, le Rorqual à bosse (Megaptera novaeangliae) est une espèce de cétacés à fanons (mysticètes). Sa longueur moyenne est de 14 mètres, pour une masse de 30 tonnes. La baleine à bosse peut effectuer des sauts spectaculaires hors de l’eau, et possède un chant caractéristique relativement complexe. Ses nageoires pectorales ont une taille plus importante que celles des autres cétacés. Elle vit dans les océans et les mers du monde entier, où elle est un sujet privilégié pour le tourisme d’observation des baleines.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
270
Photos
7
Measurements
11
vs you
≈ 480× your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendIncreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
30,000 kg
Body length
14 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
95 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Humpback whale

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
30,000 kgrecord 35,000 kg · SeaLifeBase
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 30,000 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
14 m
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 19 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass
6,439 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
95 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 95 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
22 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
3.6 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
349 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 342 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
1
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Diurnalestimated
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
30,000 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Humpback whale yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

More

More about the Humpback whale

Closest relative on this site
🐋 Gray whale — last shared an ancestor ≈ 4.1 million years ago.
What it eats
insects and other invertebrates80%
fish20%
In other languages
długopłetwiec oceaniczny (pl), Megaptera novaeangliae (es), hosszúszárnyú bálna (hu), جمل البحر (ar), bultrug (nl), knölval (sv) … and 28 more languages

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