WHY DO HUMPBACKS BREACH? NEW RESEARCH MAY ...

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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

WHY DO HUMPBACKS BREACH? NEW RESEARCH MAY EXPLAIN WHY Breaching Humpback Whale Skjálfandi Bay, Húsavík, Iceland

Imagine seeing a 25-40-ton humpback whale breaching out the water. It is an impressive sight which our passengers and crew are privileged to witness regularly.

But what makes those giant mammals breach? Scientists have never really known why although many theories have been suggested. Some possible explanations are that humpbacks have parasites on their bodies which they try to get rid of, breaching as a form of communication, or simply just playfulness.

According to new research on humpback whales, done by marine biologist Ailbhe Kavanagh at the University of Queensland in Australia, breaching is a whale's way of saying "hello".

The research team collected observations on 76 groups of whales where 88 percent displayed some kind of surface-active behaviours such as breaching.

The results, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, showed that whales were more likely to breach when the nearest group of whales was more than four kilometres away. So breaching seems to play a role in communication between distant groups of whales, rather than within groups.

Another interesting finding was that whales tend to breach more in windy weather conditions.

This helps us to get a deeper understanding of our gentle friends of Skjálfandi Bay. Maybe you will see a breaching humpback on your tour with us?

-Daniel

Sources: Marine Mammal Science, WDC

Photos: Koen Hoekemeijer (above). Clément Brun (below).

Breaching humpback whale

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