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(Megaptera novaeangliae)
Humpback whales
in Costa
Costa Rica’s Bahía Ballena, Isla del Caño Biological Reserve and Bahía Drake are some of the best places on the planet to catch a glimpse of the humpback whale. These sites are located in the northern and southern Pacific coast of our country. According to National Geographic, Ballena Marine National Park is one of the 10 best places to spot humpback whales. The Guanacaste coast is great as well!
Regardless of whether you’re relying on patience or luck, watching humpback whales and their calves jumping and performing acrobatic feats in the ocean is something we should all see at some point in our lives.
Humpback whales travel long distances from their feeding areas in cooler waters, including the polar oceans, to their breeding areas in the warm waters of Costa Rica.
These giants remain in Costa Rica for a total of 10 months per year, with groups coming from different hemispheres in each half of the year. This gives the country the longest humpback whale watching season in the world, thanks to the presence of whales from the northern and southern hemispheres.
Characteristics of the species
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are marine mammals belonging to the rorqual family (Balaenopteridae) of the suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales) and the Cetacea order, which includes whales, orcas and dolphins).
The name “humpback” is due to its distinctive short, stout dorsal fin. Its Spanish name, ballena jorobada comes from joroba, the Spanish word for “hump”.
The scientific name, Megaptera is a compound word consisting of the greek words mega, large and ptera, fin: a reference to the animal’s massive pectoral fins, which can reach up to one third of its body length, around 5 meters.
From their feeding areas on the southern Pacific coast of Canada and the entire western coast of the United States, humpback whales migrate to their breeding areas in southern Mexico and throughout Central America. In Costa Rica, they congregate in specific areas (see list on the right of the poster) of the northern and southern Pacific.
The whales that migrate from the northern hemisphere arrive during this period, traveling an average of 5,200 km on their way here and the same amount back to their feeding areas.
Southern Hemisphere Population
From their feeding areas around the Antarctic Peninsula and southern Chile, humpback whales migrate to their calving sites in northern South America, Panama and Costa Rica. In our country, the whales congregate in certain sites in the southern and (to a lesser extent) northern Pacific coast.
The whales that migrate from the southern hemisphere arrive during this period, traveling an average of 8,400 km on their way here and the same amount back to their feeding areas. This is the longest permanent migratory route of any mammal!
Northern Hemisphere Population
Whale watching services are available o
• Cuajiniquil
• Playas del Coco • Sámara
• Cóbano
• Jacó
• Quepos
• Herradura
• Dominicalito
• Bahía Rincón
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