They are propelled by an up and down tail motion, not side to side like a fish. The Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae is aptly named from the Greek 'megas' meaning great and 'pteron', a wing, because of its huge wing like flippers. It is the fifth largest of the great whales. Adult females 15m, slightly longer than males. A mature humpback can weigh 40 tonnes.
Humpbacks are generally blackish with white under and at the sides.
The flippers or pectoral fins often carry large barnacles, Golf ball protuberances on the head are called tubercles. A long coarse hair which grows from the centre of each tubercle is believed to act as a sensor. Each year humpback whales migrate from Antartic to the sub-tropical coastal waters of western and eastern Australia and South Pacific Islands where they give birth and mate during winter and spring. At least 2000 humpbacks migrate approximately 6000km to Australia's eastern coast. Around September, the whales migrate south back to Antartic waters, many stopping for a period of time in Hervey Bay.