Whales migrate to eat and breed. Because most of their food is abundant in cold waters, which are not suitable to give birth. Calves are born without a protective blubber layer under their skin and would quickly freeze to death there. So whales meet their need for food and suitable calving areas by travelling long distances from cold feeding areas, to warm, shallower waters for calving and mating.

Humpbacks have a wide geographic range and are found in all the world’s oceans. During summer months, populations in the southern hemisphere spend their time in Antarctica feeding. In late autumn they begin an annual migratory route to their winter breeding and calving grounds in the warmer tropical waters of the Pacific, as seen here in Tonga. Humpback whales migrate around 5000km a year on average, one of the longest migratory journeys of any mammal on Earth.

Wantok Photography

Humpback Splash

Humpback Splash

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