As we dwindle down to the last couple of passion posts, the level of difficulty for finding a new topic rapidly increases. So, bear with me.
A couple weeks ago I got sucked into YouTube and somehow ended up watching some (not going to lie, I probably watched close to 10) videos of whales jumping out of the water. I found these videos pretty fascinating, so here I am, writing a post about it.
First of all, let’s start by actually seeing what I’m going to talk about. Here’s a video of a humpback whale breaching the surface.
The type of jump that the humpback whale did in the video above is a breach. A cetacean researcher Hal Whitehead defines a breach as any leap in which at least 40% of the cetacean’s body clears the water. A breach is a genuine jump with an intent to clear the water, the cetacean consciously decides to breach the surface.
There are two techniques used by cetaceans to breach. The first method (most common in sperm and humpback whales) occurs when the cetacean swims vertically upwards from depth, and heads straight out of the water. The second method is when the cetacean travels close and parallel to the surface, then it jerks its body upwards at full speed with as few as 3 tail strokes. In all breaches the cetacean jumps the water with the majority of its body at an acute angle. The whale then twists to land on its back or side.
If a humpback wants to achieve 90% clearance, a humpback needs to leave the water at a speed of 18 mph. Breaching obviously takes up a lot of the cetacean’s energetic, yet breaching is often carried out in series. The longest recorded sustained series was by a humpback near the West Indies totaling 130 leaps in less than an hour and a half. Repeated breaches tire the animal, which results in less of the body clearing the water each time.
Possible reasons as to why cetaceans breach:
- Breaching often occurs when they are in groups, suggesting that it is a non-verbal signal to other group members.
- Scientists call this theory “honest signaling.”
- Breaching is a sign of physical fitness–the ability to use a heavy amount of energy.
- So it could be used to assert dominance, signal courting or give warning of danger.
- It is also possible that the loud “smack” when returning the water can be used to stun or scare prey.
- Breaching usually happens in rough waters, so it allows the whale to breathe in air that is not close to the surface and full of ocean spray.
- Breaching could occur to detach parasites from the skin.
- Breaching could simply be a form of play.
Awesome post! I think it was interesting to read about breaching, and I also think it’s really cool that you were able to write about something that you were fascinated in enough to watch videos about it in your free time.
This post is really cool and I think it’s awesome your blog is sort of exploring the unknown that is the entire ocean. I went whale watching this summer and it was really awesome to see that! Surprisingly, I didn’t ask why the whales jump out of the water.
That is super interesting! I find myself wondering about the whale that had 130 leaps; why was he doing it? If he was trying to court another whale, that must have been super impressive 😉
I knew that whales breached, but I had never thought about the mechanics of the breach. Whales are massive, so putting in the energy it takes for them to breach must have some important biological function. The breeding and group communication idea seems most likely to me, but removal of parasites could also be a likely cause. Whatever the case, it gives us humans something very interesting to watch for in the ocean!
I have always wanted to go whale watching, and this post has furthered my desire! Breaching is a really cool behavioral trait, and I’ve always wondered why whales do it. I also didn’t realize that nobody really know why they do it, I always assumed it was a method of weird whale communication.