Humpback whales have made an epic return after being hunted to the brink of extinction in several areas.

Most of worlds humpback populations have finally been removed from the endangered species list, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday.

NOAA Fisheries said of the 14 different population segments , nine have returned to healthy numbers. These include whales that breed in Hawaiian waters and whose population numbers have expanded to some 11,000 individuals, the agency said.

The delisting follows more than 40 years of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act and an international ban on commercial whaling that has been in place since 1982.