Humpback whales are found throughout the Atlantic Ocean, moving seasonally between cold northern feeding grounds and warm southern breeding waters. In the North Atlantic, they commonly feed in nutrient-rich waters surrounding New England, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway during the summer months, where massive blooms of krill and baitfish support intense feeding activity.

As winter approaches, humpbacks begin one of the longest migrations of any marine mammal. Many North Atlantic populations travel thousands of miles south toward the Caribbean, especially around the Dominican Republic and the Silver Bank sanctuary, where calmer tropical waters provide ideal breeding and calving habitat. Others migrate along the southeastern United States and across portions of the mid-Atlantic.

Although humpback whales spend much of their lives in open ocean environments, they are frequently seen close to shore during migration seasons. Areas like Cape Cod, Stellwagen Bank, the Gulf of Maine, and coastal Iceland have become globally recognized whale-watching destinations because of the species’ predictable seasonal movements and dramatic surface behavior.