60 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 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the humpback whale's scientific name?
Megaptera novaeangliae
It is the only species in the genus Megaptera, a rorqual related to the blue, fin, sei, Bryde's and minke whales.
Q 02The genus name Megaptera means what?
Giant wing
It refers to the enormous pectoral flippers, each about a third of the body length.
Q 03The species name novaeangliae means what?
New Englander
Brisson coined it in 1756 as 'baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre' after regular sightings off New England.
Q 04Where does the common name 'humpback' come from?
The curve of its back as it dives
The dorsal fin itself is short and varies from almost nothing to a small curved 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
They give it propulsion in any direction and let it 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
Unique among large whales, each is mostly hollow and holds a single fragile hair; they are rich in nerves and 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 many baleen plates line a humpback's upper jaw?
540 to 800
They are black; the throat has 14-35 grooves, few for a rorqual.
Q 10How do researchers tell individual humpbacks apart?
Colour patterns and scars on the tail flukes
Whales raise their flukes when diving, conveniently showing the underside.
Q 11Which neurons linked to theory of mind in humans have been found in humpback brains?
Spindle cells
One measured humpback brain weighed about 4.6 kg.
Q 12Which humpback behaviour involves slapping the tail fluke on the surface?
Lobtailing
A peduncle throw is the tail crashing sideways; all may be play, communication or parasite removal.
Q 13What is a humpback's typical cruising speed?
7.9 to 15.1 km/h
It is slower than other rorquals but can hit 27 km/h when threatened.
What is the deepest recorded humpback dive?
Q 21How long is a humpback whale's gestation?
11.5 months
Females calve every two years, in shallow water in mid-winter; a birth off Madagascar took four minutes.
Q 22What do humpback fetuses have that adults lack?
Teeth
They lose them and grow baleen in the final months of gestation.
Q 23How long was a newborn humpback calf?
About 4.3 metres
It weighs about 680 kg and is born with a furled dorsal fin that stiffens as it grows.
Q 24What was the age of the oldest recorded living humpback whale?
616 metres
They usually stay above 80 m; winter dives last 15-20 minutes, summer ones under five.
Q 15What technique do humpbacks use to herd prey, considered a form of tool use?
Bubble nets
A group circles while blowing air, trapping fish or krill in a cylinder of bubbles, then lunges up through it.
Q 16What are the two main forms of bubble-netting?
Upward spirals and double loops
A double loop herds prey with a long deep loop, then a surface slap, then a small final loop before capture.
Q 17What do humpbacks mainly eat?
Krill and small schooling fish
Herring, capelin, sand lances and mackerel feature; they feed from spring to autumn and fast on the breeding grounds.
Q 18At Stellwagen Bank, humpbacks flush out which fish by brushing their jaws along the seafloor?
Sand lances
One study argued they learned lobtail feeding from each other over 27 years as prey changed.
Q 19A 2009 study found a super-aggregation of humpbacks and krill in which Antarctic bay, at 5.1 whales per km²?
Wilhelmina Bay
Southern hemisphere humpbacks have been seen foraging in compact groups of up to 200.
Q 20What is the male closest to a female, who fights off rivals, called?
The principal escort
Rivals are 'challengers'; 'secondary escorts' trail behind. Fights involve tail slashing, ramming and head-butting.
95
They routinely live past 50 and reach sexual maturity at 5-15 years.
Q 25How long does a male humpback's song typically last?
4 to 33 minutes
In Hawaii, whales have been recorded singing for seven hours straight.
Q 26Which sex of humpback sings the complex breeding-season songs?
Males
The function is debated; females seem drawn to gatherings of singers, like a lek.
Q 27Humpback whale songs appear to follow which statistical law also seen in human language?
Zipf's law
Songs travel at least 10 km and change over time as other males copy the alterations.
Q 28How do humpback songs below the equator differ from northern ones in how they change?
Cyclical 'revolutions'
Northern songs evolve gradually; songs can also spread between neighbouring populations across seasons.
Q 29A 2023 study found that as humpback numbers recovered from whaling, what happened to singing?
It became less common
With more whales around, males may rely less on song to find mates.
Q 30What is the main natural predator of humpback whales?
The orca
They target juveniles; a 2014 Western Australia study saw young humpbacks killed when orcas gathered in numbers.