Whale Coloring Pages – 32 Singing Humpbacks, Orcas and Belugas

Whales are the giants of the ocean, and they make wonderful subjects for a coloring afternoon. This page gathers 32 free sheets that show them as they really are: a blue whale gliding through open water, a humpback with its long flippers, a sperm whale on a deep dive, an orca pod, a narwal with its tusk, and a smiling beluga. Some pages have big, simple shapes for small hands. Others are full of detail for patient colorists. Pick a favorite, grab your crayons, and start on the first sheet.

32 Whale Coloring Pages to Print

All 32 whale coloring pages are free and printable. Click any picture to open the PDF, then print it on A4 paper. The sheets range from very easy outlines with big shapes to detailed scenes with patterns and small parts, so everyone from young children to adults will find a whale to color.

Great Whale Portraits

Blue whale under two clouds

A side view of a blue whale with a long body, a raised tail fluke and two flippers, below two large puffy clouds. Thin curved throat grooves run along its underside. The whale’s body is one large open area, so it suits bold coloring.

Humpback whale with long flippers

A humpback whale swims upward beneath a wavy water surface, with sun rays fanning down from above. Both long, scalloped flippers stretch toward the viewer, and round bumps dot the snout above a belly of fine pleat lines. The pleated belly takes a patient hand, while the flippers and back are roomy areas.

Sperm whale and giant squid

A sperm whale with a boxy head and a row of teeth along its narrow lower jaw dives head-down above a giant squid. The squid has a pointed fin, one large eye and eight tentacles with small sucker circles, and four little fish swim between them. The wrinkled skin on the whale’s body gives it many small sections to color.

Orca pod at a rocky coast

Three orcas surface in choppy water, the largest with a tall dorsal fin in the back and a smaller calf in front. Each has an oval eye patch, and small splashes sit around them with a rocky cliff on the horizon. The big, open body shapes are easy to color, while the wavy water lines add a little detail.

Two narwhals crossing tusks

Two narwhals face each other in icy water, their long spiral tusks crossed in an X between them. Each has a round eye, a pair of flippers and a forked tail, and a jagged iceberg rises on the horizon behind wavy water lines. The tusks carry small scalloped bands, which suit two alternating shades.

Smiling beluga whale with small fish

A beluga with a rounded forehead and a gentle smile glides diagonally through Arctic water, with a small fish swimming below its flipper. Two flat-topped ice floes with cracked edges sit at the top, above a few wavy water lines. The large, smooth body is a wide-open area that takes a soft wash of blue or gray well.

Whales Are Mammals

Humpback whale blowing a spout

A humpback whale raises its head above wavy water and sends a tall, branching spout up into a puffy cloud of spray, with a few droplets flying around it. Throat grooves run under the chin, small bumps dot the snout, and sun rays reach in from the top corner. The long grooves on the throat are fine work, while the spout and sky are open shapes.

Whale watchers on a boat

Seen from behind, three people in life vests stand at a boat rail and look through binoculars at a whale’s back breaking the surface in the distance. A puffy spout rises beside it, two seagulls fly overhead, and a low hill sits on the horizon. The life vests with their buckled straps are the detailed part, while the sea and sky are wide open.

Orca and dolphin leaping together

An orca and a smaller dolphin leap out of the sea side by side, their tails still in the splashing water. The orca has a large oval eye patch, a saddle patch behind its dorsal fin and a long flipper. Droplets fly around both animals, and wavy lines fill the foreground. The big white belly and the dolphin’s smooth body are open areas.

Whale skeleton in a museum hall

A whale skeleton hangs from two rods inside a museum hall with tall arched windows. The long jaws, a curved rib cage, a row of backbone vertebrae and two flippers with finger bones are all drawn in clean outlines. The many small ribs and finger bones make this a detailed sheet, while the wall and floor are wide open areas.

Ancient Land Ancestor Wading Near a Humpback

A four-legged, long-snouted prehistoric whale ancestor wades through shallow water along a wavy shoreline, with ripple rings around each of its four hooved paws. Far behind it, a humpback whale with striped throat grooves and a long flipper blows a spout in front of low hills. The large animal is drawn in clean open outlines, while the whale in the distance holds the finer details.

Humpback mother and calf in a bubble net

Two humpback whales, a large adult and a smaller calf, swim upward with open mouths inside a ring of round bubbles. Light rays fall from the wavy surface, and a school of about a dozen small fish swims in the lower right corner. The throat grooves, knobby snouts and scalloped flippers carry fine lines, while the bubbles are simple open circles.

Mother and Calf

Humpback mother and calf

A large humpback whale with its tail fluke raised at upper left has a small calf tucked beneath its long scalloped flipper. Both show knobby bumps on the snout and curved throat grooves, and about a dozen round bubbles drift around them. The flipper edges are bumpy, so they take careful work.

Humpback mother and calf under a round sun

A humpback calf nestles against the chest of its mother just below a wavy waterline, while her tail fluke rises above the surface at upper left. A large plain sun circle hangs in the sky. The wide flippers have bumpy edges, and the throat grooves run as long parallel lines. The big smooth body and the sun give large, easy areas.

Humpback calf surfacing to breathe

A small humpback calf pushes its snout through the waterline and puffs a little spout, while the large adult rises beneath it with its tail at left. Rays radiate from a round sun above, and both whales have dotted snouts and lined throats. The scalloped flipper edges suit a fine pencil.

Orca family among kelp

Four orcas swim together in open water: two large adults and two smaller calves, each with an oval eye patch and a curved saddle patch. Wavy kelp fronds with round bladders fill both lower corners, and straight light rays fall from the surface. The patches are closed shapes with clear outlines, so the black-and-white pattern can be colored in or changed.

Beluga mother and calf by icy cliffs

Seen from the side, an adult beluga glides left to right with a smaller calf swimming just beneath it. Behind them, two blocky ice cliffs with cracked faces stand beyond a waterline of horizontal wave dashes. The large, smooth bodies leave wide open areas, and only the eyes and a few curved skin folds add fine lines.

Humpback whale singing with bubbles

A humpback whale curves in a C-shape with its tail raised at upper left and its head at right, where three arcs mark its song. Two round bubbles with highlights float above and below, and the snout has rows of small oval bumps. The long throat grooves make the most detailed area.

Whales in Their World

Humpback whale above a coral reef

A humpback whale swims down toward the left over a coral reef, its tail curled up behind it and its long, bumpy flipper held out below. Two striped angelfish drift nearby, and sunbeams fall from the wavy surface onto branching corals, tube sponges and a brain coral. The brain coral’s winding ridges are the finest detail on the sheet.

Diver photographing a humpback whale

A scuba diver with an air tank and fins aims a camera up at a humpback whale that angles toward them, its two long flippers trailing below. Sunrays fan out from a wavy surface line, and a small string of bubbles rises beside the diver’s head. The bumps on the whale’s snout and the fine throat grooves are the most detailed parts.

Gray whale below a lighthouse cliff

Below the waterline, a gray whale swims toward the right with its tail fluke at upper left and a small spout rising from its blowhole. Its back is covered in clusters of barnacle patches. On the far shore, a striped-window lighthouse and a small house sit on a rocky cliff. The barnacle clusters are the finest detail, while the cliff and sea are open shapes.

Humpback whale under the moon

A humpback whale rises out of rolling waves with its head tilted up to the left and its tail fluke curving behind it. A big empty moon and two five-pointed stars fill the sky above. The moon is a wide, open shape, so it suits a big sweep of color.

Three humpback whales between iceberg and island

Three humpback whales in shrinking sizes swim toward the right, each with a small water spout and a dotted trail linking it to the next. A jagged iceberg stands on the left, and a tiny island with two palm trees sits on the right under a big sun with ray dashes. The whale in front has a dotted snout and throat grooves.

Baleen Whale Feeding on Krill

A baleen whale tilts upward with its mouth wide open, swallowing a dense swarm of krill that streams in from the right. Wavy surface lines and long light rays fall from above, and the throat pleats run in fine curved lines. The krill are small and detailed, so this sheet suits a sharp pencil.

Comparisons and Fantasy

Fish, dolphin, orca, humpback and blue whale parade

Five sea animals leap up in a row that grows from a tiny fish through a dolphin, an orca and a humpback to a big blue whale with a spout. The humpback has bumps on its snout and long flippers, and the ocean has wavy lines under a round sun and two clouds.

Whale shark and humpback whale

A spotted whale shark glides above a humpback whale that curls its tail up behind it, with light rays falling from wavy surface lines. The shark’s body is covered in oval spots, while the humpback has throat grooves and long flippers. The many small spots call for a sharp pencil.

Whale in a clawfoot bathtub

A cheerful humpback-style whale sits in a clawfoot tub full of foam, with its tail raised and a three-branched spout rising from its head. Two big shiny soap bubbles float overhead, and the wide shapes make it an easy sheet for younger children.

Whale mobile above a bedroom bed

A hanging crib mobile carries five whales: a humpback, a beluga, an orca, a sperm whale and a small baleen whale, with three dangling stars. Below it a single bed with a pillow and blanket stands next to a window showing a crescent moon. The room has plenty of large, open areas, such as the blanket and the wall.

Humpback whale carrying a lighthouse island

A humpback whale swims through wavy water with a small sandy island on its back, complete with a palm tree, a striped lighthouse, bushes and a little rowboat. Three seagulls fly under a sun with long rays. The island’s sand and the whale’s throat grooves give two contrasting textures.

Patterns

Ring of six smiling whales

Six identical smiling whales swim nose to tail in a circle, each with a three-drop spout, a raised tail fluke and two small flippers. The open center and thick outlines make the shapes easy to fill, and each whale could get its own color.

Six whale tail flukes above the waves

Six whale tails rise from wavy water in three rows, each with small splash droplets at its base. Two flukes have bumpy, scalloped edges, and one has two large oval patches. The wide open shapes are easy to fill with flat color.

Humpback whale with patterned body

A chubby humpback whale with a big round eye and a three-part spout. Its body is filled with wavy bands holding three small fish, two starfish and scattered bubble circles. Throat grooves run along the belly, and the long flippers have bumpy edges.

All About Whales

Whales Are Mammals, Not Fish

A whale may look like a fish at first glance, but it is a mammal. Whales breathe air, are warm-blooded, give birth to live young, and nurse their calves with milk. Their ancestors walked on land about 50 million years ago, and their closest living relatives are the hippos.

You can see this in the drawings. A whale has smooth skin with no scales and no gills. It breathes through a blowhole on top of its head. Baleen whales, such as the blue whale and the humpback, have two blowholes. Toothed whales, such as the sperm whale, orca, narwal, and beluga, have one. When a whale exhales, the warm, moist air condenses into a soft cloud of mist, called the blow. It rises above the blowhole and is never a stream of water from the mouth.

The tail is another clue. A whale’s tail flukes lie flat and move up and down as the animal swims. A fish has an upright tail that swishes from side to side. The whale shark is a fish, and it is named only for its enormous size. Whales also sleep in the water without drowning, because they rise regularly to breathe. Sperm whales sometimes doze floating upright.

Baleen Whales and Toothed Whales

Whales come in two groups. Baleen whales, including the blue whale, humpback, and gray whale, have no teeth. Instead they have plates of baleen in their mouths that filter food from the water. Toothed whales have teeth and hunt single prey.

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived, growing up to about 30 meters long. It eats almost nothing but krill, tiny shrimplike animals, which it strains out of the water with its baleen. Its body is long and slender, mottled blue-gray, with a broad, flat head, grooves along the throat, and a very small dorsal fin set far back.

The orca is the largest member of the dolphin family. It lives in family groups called pods, hunts as a team, and each pod has its own dialect. The sperm whale has the largest brain of any animal, dives more than a thousand meters deep, and hunts squid in the dark. The narwal, the unicorn of the Arctic, has a tusk that is really one very long tooth, usually that long only in males. The beluga makes so many sounds that it is called the canary of the sea. Adult belugas are white, but calves are born gray.

Songs, Flukes, and Long Journeys

Male humpbacks sing long, changing songs that carry far through the sea. They also leap out of the water, which is called breaching. Sometimes they feed together with bubble nets: the whales blow a ring of bubbles around a school of fish, then swim up through the middle with their mouths open.

The underside of a humpback’s tail fluke has a pattern and shape that is different for every whale. Researchers use it to recognize individuals, much like a fingerprint. Many whales, including humpbacks and gray whales, travel thousands of kilometers every year between cold feeding grounds and warm waters where the calves are born.

Before You Start Coloring

Plain copy paper works for crayons, colored pencils, and thin markers. If you plan to use watercolors or wet markers, choose heavier paper or light cardstock so the sheet does not buckle. Markers can soak through thin paper, so put a spare sheet underneath.

The sheets are made for A4 paper. In the print dialog, choose “Fit to page” or “Actual size,” and check that margins are not cutting off the tail or flippers. If you are printing on US Letter paper, “Fit to page” keeps the whole picture on the sheet. Black and white printing is all you need, and draft mode saves ink because the lines stay clear.

Choosing a sheet by age helps everyone enjoy it. Children around three to five do best with the very easy pages, which have large shapes and thick lines. Ages six to nine can handle medium sheets with a little background, such as a mother and calf or a whale beside a small boat of bubbles. Older children and adults will enjoy the detailed pages with patterns, scenes, and fine parts, where shading and careful color choices pay off.

Ideas for Your Finished Sheets

• Ocean mural. Cut out your finished whales and pin them on blue paper or a bulletin board. Add krill, bubbles, and a few waves for a whole sea in one place.
• Fluke fingerprints. Color a humpback fluke and give it a one-of-a-kind pattern on the underside. Then compare with friends and see whether anyone drew the same tail.
• Pod poster. Gather several orcas on one big sheet of paper to show a family pod, and write a name for each member.
• Cards and bookmarks. Glue a colored beluga or narwal to folded cardstock for a birthday card, or trim a small whale into a bookmark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these whale coloring pages really free?

Yes. Every sheet is free to download and print for personal use at home. Click the picture to open the PDF, then print as many copies as you like.

What age are these pages for?

There is something for nearly every age. Young children can start with the very easy outlines, school-age children can choose the medium scenes, and older kids and adults can take on the detailed pages. You know best what your child can handle, so try a few and see which ones they enjoy.

Which colors are correct for each whale?

A blue whale is blue-gray, and a humpback is dark gray with a white underside and white flippers. An orca is black and white, a beluga is white, a narwal is spotted gray, a sperm whale is brownish gray, and a gray whale is gray with lighter patches. A rainbow whale is not a mistake, though. If you want to imagine a fantasy whale, go ahead and use every color you have.

Can I use these sheets in a classroom?

Yes. Teachers can print them for a class, a library hour, or a science lesson on ocean animals. They fit well with talks about mammals, baleen and toothed whales, or migration. Ask students to find the blowhole and the flat tail fluke before they begin coloring.

How do I tell a whale from a fish on the sheets?

Look at the tail and the skin. A whale’s fluke is horizontal, the skin is smooth, and there are no scales or gills. The blow above the head is a soft cloud of mist. If you add your own drawing, keep the tail flat and the spout above the head.

What if the print comes out too big or too small?

Check the print dialog and choose “Fit to page.” The sheets are sized for A4, so US Letter paper may need that setting to keep the whole whale on the page. Do a quick preview before you print a whole stack.

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Matthew Matthysen( Drawing and Painting Artist )

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

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