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14 of the greatest animal migrations

By: Bryan Nelson on Sept. 27, 2010, 9 a.m.
A baleen whales jumps out of the ocean.

Photo: Wilt Welles/Wiki Commons/GNU

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Baleen whales

While many of the world's species of marine mammals migrate, none go the distance like giant baleen whales.

The gray whale (which travels as far as 14,000 miles round trip annually) and the humpback whale (which travels as far as 16,000 miles round trip annually) migrate a greater distance than any other mammal on Earth.

Each species travels to warmer tropical waters during the winter months to mate and give birth. Then they swim to the rich colder waters of the Arctic or Antarctic to feed for the summer.