What is the name of the whale species in Star Trek IV?

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What is the name of the whale species in Star Trek IV? The whale species is the humpback whale.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home revolves around the disappearance of humpback whales from Earth’s future. In the film’s year 2286, a huge alien probe arrives and emits powerful signals that appear to be attempts to communicate with whales. Because the species has become extinct, the probe’s presence threatens Earth.

Admiral James Kirk and Spock travel back to 1986, when humpback whales still exist, and locate two whales named George and Gracie in the care of marine biologist Gillian Taylor. The crew takes them aboard the captured Klingon Bird of Prey and returns to the twenty-third century, where their songs answer the probe.

The movie is sometimes remembered simply as “the whale movie,” but its species identification is specific: humpback whales, not blue, gray, or killer whales. Industrial Light & Magic created most of the film’s whale imagery with full-size animatronics and smaller mechanical models rather than relying entirely on real animals. The film’s environmental theme reflects real-world concern about whaling and endangered species.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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