The humpback whale is the whale species that migrates between polar feeding grounds and tropical breeding areas, traveling up to about 16,000 kilometers in a year. The distance generally represents a round trip; some populations travel as far as 8,000 kilometers in one direction.
Humpbacks feed heavily in cold, productive waters near the poles, where seasonal blooms support krill and small schooling fish. They then migrate toward warmer waters near the equator, where females give birth and calves benefit from a less demanding thermal environment.
This journey is one of the most extensive regular migrations among mammals. Humpbacks are found in oceans worldwide, although migration routes differ among populations and a small Arabian Sea population is largely non-migratory.
The blue whale and right whale also undertake long migrations, so distance alone can cause confusion. The combination of a polar feeding range, tropical breeding grounds and a roughly 16,000-kilometer annual journey most specifically identifies the humpback whale.