What Does a Humpback Whale Look Like? Complete Guide with Underwater Photos

A Whale of a Story

By William Drumm, underwater photographer and ocean ambassador

An intimate underwater encounter with humpback whales. Curiosity, song, graceful movement, and the quiet moments that make whale photography unforgettable.

There are moments underwater that will live in my mind for the rest of my life. Meeting a humpback whale is one of them.

The presence of the giant was the first thing that struck me. Not the size, necessarily, but the ancient energy that calls even time to slow down. 

A shadow formed in the blue, growing larger with every second. Then an impossibly long pectoral fin drifted towards me, with a calm that seemed intentional. Humpback whales don’t rush. They arrive the way mountains do: quietly, and all at once.

I’ve photographed and filmed humpbacks many times, and still, every encounter feels like the first.

What does a humpback whale look like?

Humpback whales are large baleen whales that grow 46 to 56 feet long and weigh up to 40 tons (80,000 pounds), with females typically larger than males. They are recognized by their long, dark bodies (mostly black or dark grey), white markings on the underside that vary between individuals, the namesake hump in front of the dorsal fin that becomes visible when they arch to dive, and exceptionally long pectoral fins that can reach one-third of their total body length. Their heads and lower jaws are covered in distinctive bumps called tubercles, each containing a single hair, which help them detect movement in the water.

Each humpback whale has a unique fluke (tail) pattern, like a fingerprint, which scientists use to identify individuals across oceans and over decades. The underside of the fluke is variably mottled with black and white, and the trailing edge is serrated and pointed. From above, humpback whales look almost entirely dark; from below or from the side underwater, the white belly and flipper patches make the animal much more visible. Each pectoral fin can be 15 feet long, scalloped along the leading edge with knobby tubercles, and is what gives the species its scientific name Megaptera novaeangliae, meaning great wing of New England.

Humpback whale vs other whales – how to tell them apart

Humpback whales are one of the most easily identified whale species, but people often confuse them with other large whales. Here is how to tell them apart from the species they are most often mistaken for.

Humpback whale vs blue whale

Blue whales are larger – reaching 80 to 100 feet in length and weighing up to 200 tons, making them the largest animals ever to have lived. Humpbacks are 46 to 56 feet and 40 tons. The other big differences:

• Blue whales are slate blue-grey all over with mottled lighter spots; humpbacks are dark with white belly and flipper patterns.
• Blue whales have a small, hard-to-spot dorsal fin set far back; humpbacks have a rounded dorsal hump on the front of a humped back.
• Blue whales have short flippers (about 12% of body length); humpbacks have exceptionally long pectoral fins (up to one-third of body length).
• Blue whales rarely breach; humpbacks breach often.

At sea: if you see a whale breaching with massive white flippers spread, it is a humpback. If you see a sleek grey-blue whale with a small dorsal fin barely visible, it is likely a blue whale.

Humpback whale vs gray whale

Gray whales (40-49 feet) overlap in size with smaller humpbacks but look very different up close:

• Gray whales are mottled grey-and-white with patches of barnacles and parasites that give them a “covered in stones” appearance; humpbacks are dark and clean.
• Gray whales have NO dorsal fin – just a series of small humps along the back; humpbacks have a clear dorsal fin and the namesake hump.
• Gray whales have short flippers; humpbacks have long flippers.
• Gray whales feed by sucking up sediment from the seafloor; humpbacks feed in the water column with bubble nets and lunges.

Humpback whale vs orca (killer whale)

Orcas are dolphins, not whales in the strict sense, and look completely different:

• Orcas have black-and-white pattern with sharp boundaries (like a panda); humpbacks have varied patterns.
• Orcas have a tall, prominent dorsal fin (males up to 6 feet); humpbacks have a small rounded dorsal fin.
• Orcas are much smaller (males 25-30 feet, females 17-23 feet); humpbacks are larger.
• Orcas are toothed predators; humpbacks are baleen filter-feeders with no teeth.

Note: orcas occasionally hunt humpback calves, but adult humpbacks have been documented intervening to protect other species (including humans) from orca attacks. The relationship between the two species is complicated.

Humpback whale vs minke whale

Minke whales are the smaller cousins of humpbacks (about 30 feet) and are often mistaken for juvenile humpbacks:

• Minkes have shorter, hooked dorsal fins; humpbacks have rounded dorsal fins.
• Minkes have a distinctive white band across each pectoral fin; humpbacks have all-white or all-dark flippers depending on population.
• Minkes rarely breach as fully as humpbacks.

Humpback whale compared to a human

A 50-foot humpback whale is about 8 times longer than an average human. Their tongue alone weighs about as much as a horse. The eye is the size of a grapefruit. The pectoral fin is longer than three humans laid end-to-end. Newborn calves are about 13 feet long – taller than most ceilings – and gain about 100 pounds per day during their first months.

Are Humpback Whales Gentle? Behavior and Curiosity

One of the most extraordinary things about humpbacks is their songs.

Male humpback whales sing long, complex sequences that can last up to 20 minutes, which are sometimes repeated for hours. Underwater, the sound isn’t just heard, it’s felt. The vibrations move through your bones and your chest. The sound is both far away and all around you, leaving you searching the blue for the faroff source.

What makes whale songs even more remarkable is that these songs change over time, evolving slowly across entire populations; a shared cultural memory passed from whale to whale. When I hear humpbacks singing I know I’m witnessing something ancient and alive. They sing in a language we don’t understand, but somehow know holds great meaning. 

Can a humpback whale swallow a human?

Several viral incidents over the past few years – most notably the February 2025 incident off Chile, when kayaker Adrián Simancas was briefly engulfed by a humpback whale – have raised the question of whether humpback whales can swallow a human. The short answer is no, they cannot. The longer answer is anatomically interesting.

Why humpback whales cannot swallow a human

Humpback whales are baleen whales, which means they feed by filtering small prey (krill, herring, sand lance) through hair-like baleen plates that hang from their upper jaw. They have no teeth. Critically, the throat (esophagus) of a humpback whale is extremely narrow – approximately the size of a grapefruit, between 4 and 15 inches in diameter depending on the source. A human cannot fit through it.

When a humpback whale lunges with its mouth open to capture a school of fish, it can take in tens of thousands of pounds of water and prey at once. The mouth itself is enormous – large enough that a kayaker, swimmer, or large object can be briefly trapped inside. But the whale physically cannot swallow anything larger than a basketball through its esophagus.

What happens in incidents like the 2025 Chile event: the whale takes in water containing prey AND incidentally engulfs the kayaker, then expels everything that is not fish-sized within seconds. The kayaker is briefly inside the mouth, then released through the relaxed jaw or expelled with the water. There is no documented case of a humpback whale successfully swallowing a person.

What about the 2021 Massachusetts lobster diver?

In 2021, lobster diver Michael Packard was briefly engulfed by a humpback whale off Cape Cod. He survived with minor injuries and was released within about 30 seconds. His account matches the anatomical reality: he was inside the whale’s mouth, not its stomach.

Why this happens?

Humpback whales lunge-feed at the surface in summer feeding grounds. When they lunge with their mouth open through a school of fish, they cannot see directly in front of themselves, and they engulf whatever is in the water column. Kayakers and divers near a feeding humpback are at risk of being briefly engulfed not because the whale is hunting them – they are not on the menu – but because they happen to be in the same water as the actual prey.

Standard guidance from marine mammal authorities: stay 100 yards (300 feet) from any humpback whale, especially in active feeding areas. If you find yourself in close proximity to a feeding whale, do not paddle away aggressively (which can attract attention) and do not approach the whale.

Are humpback whales dangerous to humans?

Generally no. Despite their massive size, humpbacks are not predators of humans and have no historical reason to view us as threats or food. Most documented interactions between humpbacks and humans are gentle – whales have been observed actively protecting other species (and on at least two documented occasions, humans) from orca attacks. The viral kayaker incidents are accidents, not aggression. The whales involved appeared confused or surprised, not hunting.

Humpback Whale Songs

One of the most extraordinary things about humpbacks is their songs.

Male humpback whales sing long, complex sequences that can last up to 20 minutes, which are sometimes repeated for hours. Underwater, the sound isn’t just heard, it’s felt. The vibrations move through your bones and your chest. The sound is both far away and all around you, leaving you searching the blue for the faroff source.

What makes whale songs even more remarkable is that these songs change over time, evolving slowly across entire populations; a shared cultural memory passed from whale to whale. When I hear humpbacks singing I know I’m witnessing something ancient and alive. They sing in a language we don’t understand, but somehow know holds great meaning. 

The Iconic Pectoral Fins of a Humpback Whale

Humpbacks are instantly recognizable by their long pectoral fins, which can make up nearly one-third of their body length. These fins aren’t just beautiful, they’re highly functional.

The bumps along the edges, called tubercles, help reduce drag and improve maneuverability. It’s one of the reasons humpbacks can perform such surprisingly graceful turns and spirals despite their size.

Watching a humpback use its pectoral fins underwater feels like watching choreography. Every movement is slow, deliberate, and fluid, perfect for photography, if you’re patient enough to let the moment come to you.

Fine Art Prints

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Bubbles and Brawn – Humpback Whale Heat Run

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The Little Leviathan – Young Humpback Whale

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Whale Glow – Lone Humpback Whale Print

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Guardian of New Life – Pregnant Humpback with Escort

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Mothers Shadow – Humpback Whale Mother and Calf

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Silken Voyager – Brydes Whale Below the Surface

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Abyssal Echos – Pod of Bairds Beaked Whales

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Bubble-Net Feeding: How Humpback Whales Hunt Together

Humpbacks are also incredibly intelligent hunters. In some parts of the world, they use a technique called bubble-net feeding, where a group of whales swims in a circle, releasing bubbles to trap fish into a tight column before rising together to feed.

It’s teamwork on a whale of a scale. Coordinated, learned behavior passed between generations. Seeing this from above is breathtaking. I witnessed this behavior in Monterey Bay while whale watching. It was one of my best days on the water, but it pales in comparison to seeing whales blow bubbles from underwater.  

Humpback Heat Runs and Mating Behavior

Bubbles serve other purposes as well. Humpback whales participate in ‘heat runs’, when many male whales, sometimes over a dozen, chase and pursue a female, jockeying for the top position. They slam into one another and blow long steady streams of bubbles, possibly to confuse other males, or possibly as a signal of their strength and vitality. 

I captured several of these runs while photographing humpback whales in Tonga. The thrill of the runs is one of the most exciting events I have ever witnessed. The whales cover large distances, moving quickly through the water. When you jump into the sea, the whales move past almost instantly, leaving you looking around for more whales at the back of the line.

Where Humpback Whales Live and Migrate

Humpback whales live in oceans worldwide and undertake some of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth. A typical humpback travels 5,000 to 10,000 miles per year between cold-water feeding grounds in summer and warm tropical breeding grounds in winter. Some Pacific populations travel up to 16,000 miles annually.

Major humpback whale populations and their migration routes

• North Pacific population: Feeds in Alaska and Russia. Migrates to Hawaii, Mexico (Cabo San Lucas, Baja Peninsula), and the Philippines for winter breeding. The Hawaii migration is the most-watched humpback movement in the world.
• North Atlantic population: Feeds in the Gulf of Maine, Iceland, Norway, and Greenland. Migrates to the Caribbean for winter breeding (the Silver Bank in the Dominican Republic is a major breeding ground).
• Southern Hemisphere populations: Multiple populations feed in Antarctic waters in the southern summer. They migrate north to breeding grounds off Australia (the Great Barrier Reef and Hervey Bay), Tonga, French Polynesia, and the Pacific coast of South America.
• Indian Ocean / Arabian Sea: A small, isolated population that does NOT migrate - the only known non-migratory humpback population. It stays year-round in the Arabian Sea.

When and where to see humpback whales

Different populations are visible at different times of year:

• Hawaii: December through April (peak January-March)
• Alaska (Inside Passage, Glacier Bay): June through September
• Mexico (Cabo, Baja, Banderas Bay): December through April
• Tonga: June through October (some of the only legal in-water humpback encounters)
• Dominican Republic (Silver Bank): January through April
• Australia East Coast (Hervey Bay, Sydney to Cairns): May through November
• Massachusetts and Maine: May through October (feeding grounds)
• California, Oregon, Washington coast: April through November (mostly summer, some passing through year-round)

In the United States, the closest places to land where humpbacks can reliably be seen are Cape Cod (May-October), the Oregon coast (year-round but most visible spring through fall), and the California coast from Monterey Bay to San Diego (April-November). On the Pacific coast specifically, humpbacks have become increasingly common as their populations have recovered.

Famous humpback whales: Migaloo, Humphrey, and others

A handful of individual humpback whales have become famous for unusual coloration, behavior, or stories. The most well-known:

Migaloo - the all-white humpback

Migaloo is an entirely white adult male humpback whale who has been observed off the east coast of Australia since 1991. He is the most famous albino (or hypo-pigmented) humpback in the world. The name comes from an Aboriginal Australian word meaning "white fella." Migaloo is so genetically distinctive that he is protected by special Australian legislation - it is illegal to approach him within 500 meters in Queensland and New South Wales.

Migaloo has not been confirmed sighted since 2020, leading to speculation about his fate. A few other all-white humpbacks have been documented globally (a calf nicknamed "MJ" in Australia, and "Willow" in Iceland), but none with Migaloo's longevity of recognition.

Are humpback whales typically white? No. Humpbacks are normally dark grey or black on top with variable white on the underside. A truly all-white humpback like Migaloo is extremely rare and likely results from albinism or a related genetic condition. Albino whales face challenges including increased sun exposure (sunburn), reduced camouflage from predators, and possible reduced reproductive success.

Humphrey - the wandering humpback

In October 1985, a humpback whale wandered up the Sacramento River in California, traveling about 70 miles inland from San Francisco Bay - far from any humpback's natural habitat. The whale, nicknamed "Humphrey," became a national news story as marine biologists tried to coax him back to the ocean. After a 26-day rescue effort that included broadcasting recorded humpback feeding sounds underwater to lure him, Humphrey returned to the Pacific. He was sighted again in 1990 in San Francisco Bay (where he again required rescue assistance) and again in 2007.

The Humphrey story is one of the most famous wildlife rescue events in US history and inspired books, including a children's book series. He is a useful illustration of how even highly migratory species can become disoriented and require human intervention.

When and where to see humpback whales

Different populations are visible at different times of year:

•  Hawaii: December through April (peak January-March)
• Alaska (Inside Passage, Glacier Bay): June through September
• Mexico (Cabo, Baja, Banderas Bay): December through April
• Tonga: June through October (some of the only legal in-water humpback encounters)
• Dominican Republic (Silver Bank): January through April
• Australia East Coast (Hervey Bay, Sydney to Cairns): May through November
• Massachusetts and Maine: May through October (feeding grounds)
• California, Oregon, Washington coast: April through November (mostly summer, some passing through year-round)

In the United States, the closest places to land where humpbacks can reliably be seen are Cape Cod (May-October), the Oregon coast (year-round but most visible spring through fall), and the California coast from Monterey Bay to San Diego (April-November). On the Pacific coast specifically, humpbacks have become increasingly common as their populations have recovered.

Other notable humpback whales

• Salt and Pepper: Famous mother-daughter pair regularly seen off the coast of Massachusetts, with distinctive white markings on their flukes that have made them identifiable to researchers for decades.
• Frosty: A humpback off New England with extensive white markings (not albinism, just unusually pale) that has been tracked since the 1980s.
• Humpback culture: Beyond named individuals, humpback populations transmit songs and feeding techniques culturally between generations. The "lobtail feeding" behavior used in the Gulf of Maine spread through that population in the 1980s and is now passed from older to younger whales. Bubble-net feeding similarly varies between populations and is learned, not instinctive.

The Most Magical Whale Swim

Of all the times I have been in the water with humpback whales, one stands apart. We came upon a young male, splashing and fin slapping. When our boat idled far from the animal, the whale made his way over to us. He passed under the boat slowly, staring at us. Then moved a short way off and started playing again. 

Once we were in the water, the whale couldn’t hide his curiosity. He approached us directly, coming within feet of our group and continuously eyeing us, knowingly. He flipped upside down again and again, lying belly up on the surface, our gazes never breaking. 

We stayed in the water with him for what seemed like hours, enjoying each other's company. Finally with daylight getting short, we reluctantly left the young whale and got back on the boat. The whale followed us slowly, then gave a mighty leap into the air, which I hope was him saying farewell.

Photographing Humpbacks Underwater

There’s something about humpback whales that cements how you shoot and calls upon all the years of experience underwater and handling a camera housing.

You thank the whales and the sea for the opportunity. Then when it comes, you embrace it. The whales teach you to slow down, to anticipate rather than react. Those are the moments that stay with me long after I surface. My moments photographing humpback whales have been some of the best moments of my life.

Humpback whales migrate thousands of miles every year, crossing entire oceans between feeding and breeding grounds. They’ve survived commercial whaling, ecological degradation, and increasing anthropogenic pressure. Yet they are still here.

When I share my photos and videos of humpbacks, I’m not just sharing wildlife content. I’m sharing a relationship, a reminder of how small we are, and how lucky we are to be allowed into their world, even briefly. Every encounter feels like a gift.

And every time I look back at my footage, I’m reminded of why I keep going back into the water,  seeking that quiet moment when a giant turns, looks back, and lets you stay. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the technical and creative side of shooting encounters like this, I’ve also shared an underwater photography field guide along with my recommended underwater photography settings. I’ll also be sharing future destination guides and expedition stories through my newsletter.

Frequently asked questions about humpback whale

Further reading

Authoritative sources for more on humpback whale biology, conservation, and behavior:

• NOAA Fisheries — Humpback Whale species page
• International Whaling Commission — Humpback Whale
• IUCN Red List — Megaptera novaeangliae 
• MarineBio — Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) 
• NOAA Fisheries — Global Review of Humpback Whales 

Learn More About William

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