Washington mammals

Humpback Whale in Washington

Megaptera novaeangliae

Native to Washington S2N Imperiled in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with calf Moorea 2Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calf Moorea 2Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Eyjafjordur diving 3 of 27Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Eyjafjordur diving 7 of 27031 Humpback whale lobtailing Photo by Giles LaurentHumpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with calf Moorea 2Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calf Moorea 2Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Eyjafjordur diving 3 of 27Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Eyjafjordur diving 7 of 27Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0031 Humpback whale lobtailing Photo by Giles LaurentPhoto: Rajan Rao · CC BY 4.0Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Humpback Whale in Washington, by the numbers

Common in Washington 35th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

521 occurrence records
516 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 8, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

521 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 520 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Humpback Whale in Washington

Most sightings fall in June.

520 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January4
February3
March2
April7
May48
June161
July80
August85
September45
October58
November20
December7

Monthly humpback whale occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in June.

Occurrence map

Where Humpback Whale has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

289 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
San Juan Islands National Monument 74
Olympic National Park 9
Puget Sound 5
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 4
Seashore Conservation Area 1

Protected places with the most humpback whale sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Washington

CountyRecords
San Juan County 38
Jefferson County 21
Pierce County 10
Clallam County 8
King County 7
Island County 6
Skagit County 3
Grays Harbor County 3
Pacific County 2
Whatcom County 2
Kitsap County 1
Snohomish County 1
2 other counties 419

The complete county distribution, spread across 14 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Across the Washington overlay, humpback whale is represented by 521 records. Source coverage is uneven: 516 records come through iNaturalist and 368 through GBIF. On the atlas scale, the species occupies position 33 of 126.

A monthly comparison puts June first with 161 records and March last with 2. A place-level count is available for Olympic National Park, which accounts for 3 records. The evidence measures when and where records entered the dataset, rather than biological abundance.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with calf Moorea 2
Full species profile Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Size 12–17 m39.4–55.8 ft Weight 25000–40000 kg55115.6–88185 lb Lifespan Up to 95 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"