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What the sources say

Humpback WhaleMegaptera novaeangliae

Every figure, record and mechanism on the Humpback Whale profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 54 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.

Profile updated

Source
01

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

The page saysHunting With Rings of Bubbles
The source saysBubble columns are formed as a humpback swims underwater in a broad circle while exhaling. An individual column may form rows, semicircles, or complete circles. These circles act like a seive net, concentrating or herding the prey.Note: heading: the rings are the circles bubble columns can form
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web lists five main feeding tricks
The source saysHumpbacks have five main feeding behaviors (the first three are more commonly observed than the last two):
The page saysthe whale swims a circle at the surface, slapping the water with its flukes so foam surrounds its prey, then dives beneath the ring and surfaces in the center, mouth open
The source saysRing of foam. Humpbacks have an elaborate feeding behavior in which they lie on the ocean's surface and swim in a circle. While doing so, they strike the water with their flukes forming a "ring of foam," which surrounds their prey. Then, they dive under the ring and resurface in the center with mouth open, allowing them to capture the prey within the ring.Note: reviewer: cut 'tight', 'wall of foam', 'fish or krill' and 'burst up', none in the source
The page saysUnderwater, it can also blow "bubble clouds" or "bubble columns"
The source saysWhen these whales use underwater exhalation to create bubble clouds and bubble columns.Note: same words in the body and FAQ 1; reviewer cut 'spiral', which the source never uses (columns form rows, semicircles or circles)
The page saysthe columns can form rings that act like a sieve net, herding or concentrating prey
The source saysBubble columns are formed as a humpback swims underwater in a broad circle while exhaling. An individual column may form rows, semicircles, or complete circles. These circles act like a seive net, concentrating or herding the prey.Note: same words in the body and FAQ 1; 'can form rings' restores the source's 'may form ... complete circles', and it is the circles that act as the net; 'seive' corrected to 'sieve', a spelling fix only
The page saysTypically it gulps food and water together, its throat grooves expanding to hold large volumes, then shuts its mouth and presses the water out, leaving the food caught in its baleen plates
The source saysTypically, these whales take both food and water into their mouths. Large volumes can be accomodated because the ventral grooves in the throat allow for expansion. Once the mouth is full, it is closed and the water is pressed out. Meanwhile, the food is caught in the baleen plates and is then swallowed.
The page saysFlippers, Flukes and a Hump
The source saysThe most distictive external features of humpbacks are the flipper size and form, fluke coloration and shape, and dorsal fin shape.Note: heading; replaces 'A Body Built Around Its Flippers', which no source says
The page saysThe flippers are a giveaway: they can reach almost a third of the whale's total body length and are largely white, with knobs along the leading edge
The source saysThe most distictive external features of humpbacks are the flipper size and form, fluke coloration and shape, and dorsal fin shape. Flippers are quite long and can be almost a third of the body length. They are largely white and have knobs on the leading edge.Note: reviewer restored 'can', and 'studded with' became 'with'
The page saysIts tail flukes carry distinctive gray-and-white patterns with a scalloped trailing edge
The source saysThe butterfly-shaped tail flukes bear individually distinctive patterns of gray and white, and have a scalloped trailing edge.
The page saysIts dorsal fin often has a stepped or humped shape, one source of the name "humpback"
The source saysThe dorsal fin can be a small triangle or sharply falcate, and often has a stepped or humped shape; this is one source of the name "humpback."
The page saysanother is its habit of rounding its back as it dives
The source saysThe common name "humpback" also comes from the animal's tendency to round its back when diving.
The page saysFemales grow larger than males
The source saysHumpback females are larger than males.Note: final review (2026-09): "Oddly for a mammal" cut; ADW's "one of the few species of mammals" is a side comparison, and female-larger size is not rare among whales
The page saysHumpbacks have few predators besides humans
The source saysHumpback whales have few predators other than humans.Note: reviewer: replaces 'Grown humpbacks have almost no natural predators'; the source says nothing about age
The page sayskiller whales sometimes harass and perhaps kill them, and sharks feed on their carcasses
The source saysThey are sometimes harassed, perhaps killed, by killer whales, and sharks feed on their dead bodies.
The page saysA mother and calf may be accompanied by "escort" whales, believed to be mostly males, which turn aggressive toward other humpbacks that approach and sometimes blow bubbles as an apparent screen
The source says"Escort" whales within a group may accompany whale-calf pairs. They become aggressive towards other humpbacks approaching the groups. They sometimes blow bubbles from their blow holes or mouths as an apparent "screen." It is believed that most "escorts" are males.Note: reviewer: replaces 'Calves get extra protection from', a purpose the source never states; restores 'may accompany' and 'apparent'
The page saysLobtail feeding, which combines a tail slap with bubble feeding
The source saysAt times, humpbacks combine some of these methods, for example, combining bubble feeding and tail slapping (lobtailing), as they feed on sand lance.Note: 'some' refers to 'some of these methods', not a hedge on the combination
The page saysThe bubble-ring hunter
The source saysBubble columns are formed as a humpback swims underwater in a broad circle while exhaling. An individual column may form rows, semicircles, or complete circles. These circles act like a seive net, concentrating or herding the prey.Note: tagline
The page saysFive main feeding moves, including a "ring of foam" that surrounds prey before the whale dives under it and surfaces in the center, mouth open
The source saysHumpbacks have five main feeding behaviors (the first three are more commonly observed than the last two): ... Ring of foam. Humpbacks have an elaborate feeding behavior in which they lie on the ocean's surface and swim in a circle. While doing so, they strike the water with their flukes forming a "ring of foam," which surrounds their prey. Then, they dive under the ring and resurface in the center with mouth open, allowing them to capture the prey within the ring.Note: stats.superpower; 'before' is the source's own 'Then'. Reviewer cut 'bubble and tail-slap toolkit' (lunging is neither), 'spiraling' (the source says a circle), 'traps fish' and 'bursts up'
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web describes five main tricks
The source saysHumpbacks have five main feeding behaviors (the first three are more commonly observed than the last two):
The page saysIn the "ring of foam" move, a whale swims a circle at the surface, slapping the water with its flukes so foam surrounds its prey, then dives underneath and surfaces in the middle with its mouth open
The source saysRing of foam. Humpbacks have an elaborate feeding behavior in which they lie on the ocean's surface and swim in a circle. While doing so, they strike the water with their flukes forming a "ring of foam," which surrounds their prey. Then, they dive under the ring and resurface in the center with mouth open, allowing them to capture the prey within the ring.Note: reviewer cut 'tight', 'wall of foam', 'a patch of' and 'bursts up'
The page saysBig enough to be its trademark
The source saysThe most distictive external features of humpbacks are the flipper size and form, fluke coloration and shape, and dorsal fin shape. Flippers are quite long and can be almost a third of the body length.
The page saysA humpback's pectoral flippers can stretch almost a third of its total body length, and they are largely white with knobs along the leading edge
The source saysFlippers are quite long and can be almost a third of the body length. They are largely white and have knobs on the leading edge.
The page saysIts tail flukes stand out too, with individually distinctive patterns of gray and white and a scalloped trailing edge
The source saysThe most distictive external features of humpbacks are the flipper size and form, fluke coloration and shape, and dorsal fin shape. ... The butterfly-shaped tail flukes bear individually distinctive patterns of gray and white, and have a scalloped trailing edge.Note: reviewer: replaces 'just as distinctive', a comparison the source never makes; it lists flukes among the most distinctive features
The page saysLobtail feeding combines a tail slap with bubble feeding
The source saysAt times, humpbacks combine some of these methods, for example, combining bubble feeding and tail slapping (lobtailing), as they feed on sand lance.Note: reviewer split this from the 27-year claim: network-2013 never says what lobtail feeding is
The page saysKrill, herring, sand lance, capelin
The source saysthe North Pacific and the Bering Sea eat euphausiids (krill), mackerel, sand lance, Ammodytes americanus, capelin and herring.Note: stats.diet

Source
02

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Whale. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

The page saysLone males sing the famous songs during the winter mating season, the San Diego Zoo says
The source saysSingle male humpback whales make their famous whale songs during the winter mating season.Note: 'lone' paraphrases 'single'; reviewer cut 'Only males sing', an absolute no source states (songs-1971 says the singer's sex was then unknown)
The page saysLone males sing the famous songs during the winter mating season, according to the San Diego Zoo
The source saysSingle male humpback whales make their famous whale songs during the winter mating season.Note: reviewer: replaces 'Only males sing, and only during the winter mating season'; the source gives neither 'only'

Source
03

Cooke 2018

Cooke (2018). Megaptera novaeangliae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T13006A50362794.

The page saysthe IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern
The source saysIUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC).Note: reviewer cut '2018 assessment': the readout is today's category from GBIF's copy of the Red List, and the year was only in the citation
The page saysLeast Concern
The source saysIUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC).

Source
04

Payne & McVay 1971

Payne & McVay (1971). Songs of Humpback Whales: Humpbacks emit sounds in long, predictable patterns ranging over frequencies audible to humans. Science.

The page saysPayne and McVay's 1971 study described each song as a series of sounds lasting 7 to 30 minutes, repeated with considerable precision and no obvious pause between songs, so a session can run for several hours
The source saysHumpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a series of beautiful and varied sounds for a period of 7 to 30 minutes and then repeat the same series with considerable precision. ... Songs are repeated without any obvious pause between them; thus song sessions may continue for several hours.Note: '1971' is the reference's year; 'so' is the abstract's own 'thus'. Reviewer cut 'with such precision that each whale keeps its own song type', a link the abstract never makes, which also contradicted dynamic-2011's newer 'All males within a population conform to the current version'
The page saysA whale sings its themes in the same order song after song, in sessions that can run for several hours: the same long-form repetition post-rock is built on
The source saysSongs are repeated without any obvious pause between them; thus song sessions may continue for several hours. ... The sequence of themes in successive songs by the same individual is the same.Note: vibe.reason; the post-rock half is the genre comparison, not a whale claim. Reviewer: the sessions run for hours, not the songs (7 to 30 minutes), and the order holds for the same individual

Source
05

Garland et al. 2011

Garland et al. (2011). Dynamic Horizontal Cultural Transmission of Humpback Whale Song at the Ocean Basin Scale. Current Biology.

The page saysA Song That Spreads Like a Trend
The source saysmultiple song types spread rapidly and repeatedly in a unidirectional manner, like cultural ripplesNote: blockquote lead-in; 'trend' glosses 'cultural ripples'
The page saysResearchers tracking populations across the western and central South Pacific found new song versions moving eastward from one population to the next, again and again, over 11 years: the whale version of a hit song
The source sayswe present a striking pattern of horizontal transmission: multiple song types spread rapidly and repeatedly in a unidirectional manner, like cultural ripples, eastward through the populations in the western and central South Pacific over an 11-year periodNote: reviewer restored 'western and central' and cut 'travelling all the way across an ocean basin': the abstract covers the western and central South Pacific only, and the title phrase was not in the readable text
The page sayswhose songs ripple from one population to the next
The source saysmultiple song types spread rapidly and repeatedly in a unidirectional manner, like cultural ripples, eastward through the populations in the western and central South Pacific over an 11-year periodNote: tagline; reviewer cut 'across whole ocean basins': one study, one basin, and only its western and central part
The page saysEvery male in a population sings the same evolving version of the song at a given time
The source saysMale humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have a highly stereotyped, repetitive, and progressively evolving vocal sexual display or "song" that functions in sexual selection (through mate attraction and/or male social sorting). All males within a population conform to the current version of the display (song type)
The page saysresearchers tracking populations across the western and central South Pacific found new versions spreading eastward from one population to the next over 11 years
The source saysmultiple song types spread rapidly and repeatedly in a unidirectional manner, like cultural ripples, eastward through the populations in the western and central South Pacific over an 11-year periodNote: reviewer restored 'western and central' and cut 'all the way across an ocean basin'

Source
06

Suzuki, Buck & Tyack 2006

Suzuki, Buck & Tyack (2006). Information entropy of humpback whale songs. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

The page saysA later analysis found strong rules, a kind of syntax, shaping the song, with patterns that recur every 6 to 8 sound units and again every 180 to 400
The source saysThere is a strong structural constraint, or syntax, in the generation of the songs, and (2) the structural constraints exhibit periodicities with periods of 6-8 and 180-400 units.Note: 'recur every' paraphrases 'periodicities with periods of'. Reviewer cut 'governing which sound could follow another' and 'too consistent to be chance': the source's point is that no Markov (next-sound) model can represent the structure, not that it is non-random

Source
07

Allen et al. 2013

Allen et al. (2013). Network-Based Diffusion Analysis Reveals Cultural Transmission of Lobtail Feeding in Humpback Whales. Science.

The page saysSongs are not the only tradition humpbacks keep
The source saysOur results, coupled with existing knowledge about song traditions, show that this species can maintain multiple independently evolving traditions in its populations.Note: reviewer: replaces 'Hunting habits spread the same way'; lobtail feeding spread within one population, songs between populations
The page saysspread through a population of humpback whales over a period of 27 years; the evidence for models with social learning was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude stronger than for models without it, meaning the trick passed whale to whale
The source saysWe used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years. Support for models with a social transmission component was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude greater than for models without.Note: 'evidence ... stronger' for 'support ... greater'; reviewer cut 'fit the data ... better', a different statistical claim
The page saysWhale Culture: Songs and Habits That Spread
The source saysWe used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, ... Our results, coupled with existing knowledge about song traditions, show that this species can maintain multiple independently evolving traditions in its populations.Note: heading
The page saysit spread through a population of humpback whales over a period of 27 years
The source saysWe used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years.
The page saysResearchers modeled its spread and found the evidence for models built around social learning between whales was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude stronger than for models without it, meaning whales were picking up the trick from each other
The source saysWe used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years. Support for models with a social transmission component was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude greater than for models without.Note: reviewer cut 'the sightings' (the abstract never names the data), 'fit the pattern ... better', and 'rather than each inventing it alone' (sand lance distribution also predicted uptake)

Source
08

NOAA Fisheries

Humpback Whale. NOAA Fisheries.

The page saysherds, corrals and confuses its prey, and its methods can include bubbles, sounds, the seafloor and even its flippers
The source saysThey use several techniques to help them herd, corral, and disorient prey and that can include using bubbles, sounds, the seafloor, and even their pectoral fins.Note: reviewer: replaces 'does not so much chase its food as trap it', a contrast no source draws; 'confuses' for 'disorient', 'flippers' for 'pectoral fins'
The page saysIt can grow to about 60 feet long
The source saysLength Up to about 60 feetNote: NOAA Fisheries Quick Facts box
The page saysweigh up to about 40 tons, according to NOAA Fisheries
The source saysWeight Up to about 40 tonsNote: NOAA Fisheries Quick Facts box; reviewer restored 'about'
The page saysNOAA Fisheries puts its lifespan at about 80 to 90 years
The source saysLifespan About 80 to 90 yearsNote: NOAA Fisheries Quick Facts box; reviewer cut 'wild', which the box does not say
The page saysHumans have been the real danger
The source saysBefore a final moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, all populations of humpback whales were greatly reduced, most by more than 95 percent.
The page saysbefore a final moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, all humpback populations were greatly reduced, most by more than 95 percent
The source saysBefore a final moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, all populations of humpback whales were greatly reduced, most by more than 95 percent.Note: final review (2026-09): replaces ADW's "more than 60,000 ... between 1910 to 1916", a count resting only on the undated ADW page
The page saysThe species is now increasing in much of its range
The source saysThe species is increasing in abundance throughout much of its range
The page saysOceans worldwide
The source saysHumpback whales live in all oceans around the world.Note: stats.habitat; reviewer cut 'Open': NOAA says calving whales prefer shallow water near reefs or shores
The page sayssome whales migrate 5,000 miles between summer feeding grounds and tropical mating and calving areas
The source sayssome animals migrating 5,000 miles between high-latitude summer feeding grounds and winter mating and calving areas in tropical watersNote: stats.habitat; reviewer: 'some animals', not 'some populations', and 'high-latitude', not 'polar'
The page saysand other small fish
The source saysHumpback whales filter-feed on small crustaceans (mostly krill) and small fish.Note: stats.diet; replaces 'and schooling pelagic baitfish', which no source says
The page saysNot every population has recovered, though: under the US Endangered Species Act, four of the humpback's 14 distinct population segments are still listed as endangered
The source saysThe United States listed all humpback whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act in 1970 and then under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. ... Currently, four out of the 14 distinct population segments are still protected as endangeredNote: settle #173: added from the NOAA page the issue named; "still protected as endangered" under the ESA, a US law
The page saysamong them Central America and the Arabian Sea
The source saysThe humpback whale Central America distinct population segment (DPS), Western North Pacific DPS, Arabian Sea DPS, and Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa DPS are listed as endangeredNote: settle #173

How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.