They have huge, gray-black sifters in their mouths, called baleen plates, that allow them to sift through the water for the fish and tiny organisms they eat. A humpback's mouth has about 340 baleen plates. Lifestyle Humpbacks are social and travel in small family groups. Sometimes hundreds of them gather together. They communicate with an amazingly complex song, which can go on for 35 minutes before it repeats itself.
Some songs are so distinct that biologists can tell which whale is singing.
Humpbacks spend the warmer months in cool water and spend the winter in tropical waters. Biologists believe that a humpback can live for 75 years or more. Related Species Humpbacks are related to other whales, orcas, dolphins, and porpoises. All About Humpbacks Humpbacks are graceful swimmers and can travel from 4 to 17 miles an hour. Their long fins make them very acrobatic they can leap from the water in a twisting spiral and somersault back in head first, falling into a dramatic crash that sounds like thunder.