Humpback whales take long seasonal migrations. They mate and calve in tropical waters during the winter and then travel to cold polar waters during the summer to feed.
Humpbacks have huge, mottled white flippers with rough edges that are up to one-third of its body length; these are the largest flippers of any whale. The humpback's genus, Megaptera, means "huge-wings," referring to its flippers. The flippers may have barnacles growing on them.