Although some mixing does occur between these populations there has probably never been any contact between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Males are smaller.
Heavily hunted in the past and it is likely that more than 100,000 humpbacks were killed by whalers thoughout the modern whaling era. Estimated population today of around 10,000 individuals worldwide. Humpbacks have a worldwide distribution with two stocks in the north Atlantic Ocean and two stocks in the north Pacific ocean. The western north Atlantic holds the healthiest population of humpbacks. The baleen is made of keratin and is an adaptation for filter feeding.