Humpback whales are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the Gulf of Mexico humpback whales have been captured in the Florida Keys and northern Cuba. Sightings have occurred off the west coast of Florida and Alabama. The only known occurrence along the Texas Coast is of a young, immature animal observed by Victor Cockraft and David Weller at the inshore side of Bolivar Jetty near Galveston on 19 February 1992. No population estimates are available for Gulf humpbacks.
Humpbacks are highly migratory.
In the western North Atlantic these whales occupy high latitude feeding grounds from Cape Cod to Iceland during spring, summer, and fall. In late autumn and winter the whales then move into Caribbean waters for mating and calving. These are among the most acrobatic and visible of whales and breach completely out of water in spectacular displays of strength. Tail slapping, breaching, and other such behaviors may serve in communication between the whales, possibly as warnings or a means of indicating location. Humpbacks also produce a number of unusual sounds described variously as moans, groans, cries, squeals, chirps, and clicks.