FlukesThe two wide halves of the tail. They lie flat and beat up and down to push the whale along, unlike a fish's upright tail.
Dorsal finThe fin on the back. A humpback's is short and varies from almost nothing to curved.
Pectoral finThe flipper, the whale's front limb. A humpback's is about a third as long as its body, with bumps along its front edge.
BlowholesThe nostrils, on top of the head. The whale breathes through them at the surface. Baleen whales have two. Toothed whales have one.
BaleenPlates that hang from the upper jaw in place of teeth. The whale strains krill and small fish from the water through them.
BlubberA thick layer of fat under the skin. Laced with fibers and blood vessels.
The humpback's head: 6 5
EyeThe eye, just behind the corner of the mouth.
RostrumThe upper jaw and snout. A humpback's is thin, and knobbly with tubercles.
TuberclesThe round knobs on a humpback's head and jaws. One of the marks of the species.
Lower jawThe lower jaw, which closes up under the baleen.
Throat groovesPleats running from the tip of the lower jaw to the navel. They stretch open so the mouth can take in a huge gulp of water.
A toothed whale: 2 2
MelonThe mass of fat in the forehead of every toothed whale. Scientists think it focuses the sounds used in echolocation.
TeethA toothed whale's teeth, in place of baleen. Toothed whales catch fish and squid rather than straining food.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) Wikipedia, Humpback whale, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale : a thin rostrum, flippers about a third of the body length, tubercles on the head, a short dorsal fin varying from nearly nothing to curved, grooves from the tip of the lower jaw to the navel, baleen plates lining the upper jaw, tail flukes. (2) Wikipedia, Whale, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale : blowholes are modified nostrils on top of the head; blubber under the skin; baleen whales strain krill and plankton; throat pleats let the mouth expand. (3) Wikipedia, Cetacean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean : the fluke set horizontally and moved up and down, unlike a fish's tail; forelimbs are flippers; nearly all have a dorsal fin. (4) Wikipedia, Blowhole (anatomy): baleen whales two blowholes, toothed whales one. (5) Wikipedia, Blubber: a thick layer of vascularized fat under the skin of all cetaceans, laced with collagen fibres. (6) Wikipedia, Melon (cetacean): a mass of fat in the forehead of all toothed whales, thought to focus the sounds of echolocation. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-05 by script. The outline of the whole humpback (back, belly, flipper, dorsal fin, flukes, mouth line, eye, the sweep of the throat grooves) was read off a public domain plate: Megaptera novaeangliae, United States National Marine Fisheries Service, 1987 (Wikimedia Commons, Megaptera novaeangliae NOAA.jpg; public domain). Changed from the plate: the flipper a little longer, the far fluke raised so both halves show, the dorsal fin a little taller, and in the head view the lower jaw turned open and the baleen added. The close-up of the blubber and the dolphin head are own drawings; public domain NOAA Fisheries and NASA photographs of dolphins were looked at for form, not traced. Not to scale between views. Licence: own drawing; outline after a public domain plate
How it works
These are the parts of a whale on a humpback rising head first, with the head of a toothed whale beside it for the melon and teeth. Start with the 6 main parts.
Read the full guide
Head to tail
On top of the head are the blowholes. The mouth holds baleen hanging from the upper jaw, and pleated throat grooves run down the belly. Behind them come the long flipper, the small dorsal fin and the flukes.
Baleen or teeth
Whales come in two kinds. Baleen whales, like the humpback, strain food through baleen and have two blowholes. Toothed whales have teeth, one blowhole and a fatty melon in the forehead.
Look at the tail: a whale's flukes lie flat and beat up and down, while a fish's tail stands upright and sweeps side to side.
Questions and answers
What is a whale's tail called?
The flukes: the two wide, flat halves at the end of the tail. They beat up and down to drive the whale forward.
What is the melon on a whale?
A mass of fat in the forehead of every toothed whale, such as a dolphin or sperm whale. Scientists think it focuses the sounds the whale uses for echolocation.
What is blubber?
The thick layer of fat under a whale's skin. It is laced with fibres and blood vessels, and every whale, dolphin and porpoise has it.