Humpback Whale Trivia
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56 free Humpback Whale trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This humpback whale trivia quiz covers the most watchable whale in the sea: why its Latin name means 'big-winged New Englander', what the head bumps are for, how bubble nets work and why they count as tool use, how males build songs from units and phrases that follow Zipf's law, how far the whales migrate, why they mob orcas to protect seals, and how sharks occasionally kill them. It also covers the humpback and people: the near-extinction to 5,000 animals, the Soviet Union's hidden 48,000 kills, the 1966 IWC ban and the recovery to 135,000, Migaloo the white whale, Roger Payne's Songs of the Humpback Whale, Star Trek IV, the $20 million Hawaiian whale-watching business and the tiny endangered Arabian Sea population. Every question was verified against a primary reference (mainly the Wikipedia article on the humpback whale) and carries a citation. Play it with our blue whale, ocean and marine mammal quizzes.
30 of 56 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the humpback whale's scientific name?
Megaptera novaeangliae
Megaptera novaeangliae is the only species in the genus Megaptera, a rorqual related to the blue, fin, sei, Bryde's and minke whales.
Q 02How many blowholes does a humpback whale have?
Two
Two. Like all baleen whales, the humpback has a pair of blowholes on top of its head; toothed whales such as dolphins have a single one.
Q 03In 1985 the wayward humpback nicknamed Humphrey swam far up which river?
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River: Humphrey passed through the Golden Gate in October 1985 and spent nearly a month inland before being coaxed back to sea with recorded humpback feeding calls.
Q 04Where does the common name 'humpback' come from?
The curve of its back as it dives
The name comes from the curve of its back as it dives: the whale arches steeply before sounding, while its dorsal fin is just a small hook.
Q 05How long is a typical adult humpback whale?
14 to 15 metres
Females run 1-1.5 m longer than males; the species can weigh up to 40 tonnes.
Q 06A humpback's pectoral flippers are roughly what fraction of its body length?
One third
The flippers are about one third of body length, the longest of any whale; the humpback can flap and rotate them like a sea lion.
Q 07What are the fist-sized bumps on a humpback's head and flipper edges called?
Tubercles
These knobs are tubercles: each holds a single hair follicle and is rich in nerves, so they are probably sensory.
Q 08What do the bumps on the humpback's flippers do hydrodynamically?
Boost lift and cut drag for tight turns
The 'tubercle effect' lets the whale make the tight turns needed for bubble-net feeding.
Q 09How do researchers tell individual humpbacks apart?
Colour patterns and scars on the tail flukes
Researchers photograph the colour patterns and scars on the tail flukes, which whales raise when diving; each underside is as distinctive as a fingerprint.
Q 10Which neurons linked to theory of mind in humans have been found in humpback brains?
Spindle cells
Spindle cells, also called von Economo neurons and tied in humans to social cognition and theory of mind, were found in humpback cortex in a 2007 study.
Q 11Which humpback behaviour involves slapping the tail fluke on the surface?
Lobtailing
Lobtailing is slapping the tail flukes on the surface; a peduncle throw is the whole tail crashing sideways. Both may be play, communication or parasite removal.
Q 12What is a humpback's typical cruising speed?
7.9 to 15.1 km/h
Humpbacks cruise at 7.9 to 15.1 km/h, slower than other rorquals, but can hit 27 km/h when threatened.
Q 13Which humpback hunting technique has been described as a form of tool use?
Bubble nets
Bubble nets: a group circles while blowing air, trapping fish or krill in a cylinder of bubbles, then lunges up through it.
Q 21How long was a newborn humpback calf?
About 4.3 metres
A newborn calf is about 4.3 metres long and weighs about 680 kg; it is born with a furled dorsal fin that stiffens as it grows.
Q 22The humpback whale is the official state marine mammal of which US state?
Hawaii
Hawaii named the humpback whale its state marine mammal in 1979; thousands of North Pacific humpbacks winter in Hawaiian waters to breed and calve.
Q 23How long does a male humpback's song typically last?
4 to 33 minutes
A song lasts 4 to 33 minutes and is repeated in long sessions; in Hawaii, whales have been recorded singing for seven hours straight.
Q 14What are the two main forms of bubble-netting?
Upward spirals and double loops
The two forms are upward spirals and double loops: a double loop herds prey with a long deep loop, a surface slap, then a small final loop before capture.
Q 15What do humpbacks mainly eat?
Krill and small schooling fish
Krill and small schooling fish such as herring, capelin and mackerel make up the diet; humpbacks feed from spring to autumn and fast on the breeding grounds.
Q 16At Stellwagen Bank, humpbacks flush out which fish by brushing their jaws along the seafloor?
Sand lances
Sand lances bury themselves in the seabed at Stellwagen Bank; humpbacks scrape the bottom to flush them, and a 27-year study showed lobtail feeding spreading socially there.
Q 17A 2009 study found a super-aggregation of humpbacks and krill in which Antarctic bay, at 5.1 whales per km²?
Wilhelmina Bay
Wilhelmina Bay, off the Antarctic Peninsula, held about 306 humpbacks feeding on a dense krill swarm in May 2009, a record density of 5.1 whales per km².
Q 18What is the male closest to a female, who fights off rivals, called?
The principal escort
The principal escort stays nearest the female and fights off 'challengers'; 'secondary escorts' trail behind. Fights involve tail slashing, ramming and head-butting.
Q 19How long is a humpback whale's gestation?
11.5 months
Gestation lasts 11.5 months; females calve every two years, in shallow water in mid-winter, and a birth observed off Madagascar took four minutes.
Q 20What do humpback fetuses have that adults lack?
Teeth
Teeth: humpback fetuses grow tooth buds that are resorbed before birth and replaced by baleen plates.
Q 24Which sex of humpback sings the complex breeding-season songs?
Males
Males produce the complex songs during the winter breeding season; the function is debated, though females seem drawn to gatherings of singers, like a lek.
Q 25Humpback whale songs appear to follow which statistical law also seen in human language?
Zipf's law
Zipf's law: a 2025 Science study found that recurring song elements follow the same skewed frequency distribution as words in human language.
Q 26How do humpback songs below the equator differ from northern ones in how they change?
Cyclical 'revolutions'
Southern songs go through cyclical 'revolutions', with a whole population abruptly adopting a new song; northern songs evolve gradually, and songs can spread between neighbouring populations.
Q 27A 2023 study found that as humpback numbers recovered from whaling, what happened to singing?
It became less common
Singing became less common: off eastern Australia, as numbers rebounded, fewer males sang and more fought for mates, suggesting song matters less when whales are plentiful.
Q 28Which animal is the main natural predator of humpback whales, targeting mostly juveniles?
The orca
The orca targets juveniles; a 2014 Western Australia study saw young humpbacks killed when orcas gathered in numbers.
Q 29Humpbacks have been seen mobbing orcas to protect which other animals?
Seals
Humpbacks have charged orcas hunting seals, one even sheltering a Weddell seal on its upturned belly in Antarctica; their barnacle-studded flippers are formidable weapons.
Q 30Which species was documented killing a weakened 7 m humpback in 2020?
Great white shark
A great white shark was filmed by drone off South Africa in 2020 killing a weakened 7 m humpback, a rare documented shark attack on a living large whale.