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Arabian Sea humpback whales are generally resident in the Arabian Sea year-round, using the region for both feeding and reproduction rather than making the typical humpback journey between tropical breeding grounds and high-latitude feeding grounds. Oman’s coast—especially the Gulf of Masirah and Hallaniyat Bay off Dhofar—is the best-documented habitat. Individual whales can travel much farther: a 2026 satellite-telemetry study recorded one female’s round trip between Oman and India, but that single journey does not establish a regular seasonal migration for the population.
Where do Arabian Sea humpback whales live?
The clearest evidence of regular habitat use comes from Oman’s Arabian Sea coast. Research using surveys, photo-identification, acoustics and satellite tags has documented whales in the Gulf of Masirah and Hallaniyat Bay off Dhofar. Tracked home ranges also extend along the western Arabian Sea coasts of southern Oman and northern Yemen. The Gulf of Masirah is identified as a core area in a 2026 satellite-telemetry study (Willson et al., 2026).
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The population’s reported range is broader than Oman. Records and research indicate whales in waters off India and Pakistan, and tracking confirms that at least some individuals cross the Arabian Sea. But the regions are not equally well surveyed: the 2008 IUCN Red List assessment described confirmed research as concentrated in Oman, with records elsewhere limited or incidental at that time. A sighting or stranding is not equivalent to a repeatedly studied habitat area.
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Oman’s principal study areas
The Gulf of Masirah and Hallaniyat Bay/Dhofar are the best-supported Omani habitat areas. The Gulf of Masirah is more strongly associated with feeding, and Hallaniyat Bay with reproductive activity, but feeding and breeding-related behaviors have been recorded in both. Calving habitat is less certain because calf sightings are limited (IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, Oman Arabian Sea IMMA factsheet).
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How to interpret the wider range
Reports from farther afield help establish that the population’s range is not confined to Oman, but they do not all carry the same evidential weight as dedicated study and satellite tracking. The 2008 assessment lists a broad reported native occurrence while noting the limited or incidental nature of evidence outside Oman. In particular, reports from the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Maldives or Sri Lanka should not be treated as equally established core habitat.
Do Arabian Sea humpback whales migrate?
At the population level, the best-supported description is year-round residence within the Arabian Sea, not a regular long-distance seasonal migration between high and low latitudes. Historical observations across the calendar year and photo-identification resightings support that pattern. “Resident” describes the broad population pattern; it does not mean every whale stays in one small place or never moves far.
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Reproductive activity has seasonal timing within the region. The 2026 study describes surveys in Hallaniyat Bay in February and March as coinciding with peak breeding season, and surveys in the Gulf of Masirah in November as occurring in its early phase. These are the study’s seasonal reference points, not a guarantee that whales will be visible in a particular month.
What the Oman–India tracking records show
Satellite tracking has documented substantial individual movement without overturning the population-level picture. The 2026 study analyzed 14 successful satellite tags deployed on 13 whales from 2014 to 2017; one male was tagged twice. One female made a round trip between the Gulf of Masirah and India’s Gulf of Mannar, an estimated journey of more than 5,000 km. The authors describe it as direct evidence of travel across the Arabian Sea in their tracking record (Willson et al., 2026).
An earlier tracking account reported an Oman-to-India crossing by a whale named Luban in 2017–2018 (IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group, 3 February 2018). Together, these records show that some whales range across the basin. They do not establish how often such journeys occur or that the population follows an annual Oman–India route. The 2026 researchers discuss possible feeding or breeding drivers for the individual journey, but the movement record alone does not confirm why she traveled.
What researchers know about habitat use
The 2026 telemetry study found area-restricted-search behavior concentrated in shallow continental-shelf areas, while more direct transiting behavior occurred farther offshore. This describes movement patterns, not confirmed feeding events: the tags did not directly establish when a whale fed, although some movements overlapped areas considered productive for prey.
The study also found overlap between whale movements, fishing and shipping activity. The population is listed as Endangered, and conservation sources identify fishing-gear entanglement, vessel strikes, underwater noise and coastal development as pressures. The scale and effects of these threats have not been fully quantified (IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group, page updated January 2024; Willson et al., 2026).
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The 2026 telemetry paper reports an estimate of 82 whales off Oman, with a 95% confidence interval of 60–111. This is the mark-recapture estimate from the IUCN assessment published in 2008, not a new 2026 census and not a precise count of every whale across the population’s suspected range. The Arabian Sea subpopulation is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN Red List assessment).
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