sperm whales<\/a> are particularly fond of leaping\u00a0out\u00a0of the water in this way.\u00a0Humpbacks may do this 100 times or more in one \u2018show\u2019, an incredible feat when you are\u00a0up to 17m long!<\/p>The smaller the species the more likely it is that they\u00a0may\u00a0launch fully out of the water\u00a0and even perform some gymnastic style spins before splashing down. <\/p>
The larger whales tend to rise then turn slightly before bellyflopping back into the sea. Some will only lift their front half up and out and then appear to headbutt the surface of the water.<\/p>
Why do whales breach?<\/h2> But, why do whales breach? Frustratingly, the reason\u00a0(or reasons) for this\u00a0are\u00a0not fully understood,\u00a0and it remains one of the mysteries surrounding these awesome creatures that\u00a0we\u00a0are yet to solve.<\/p>
There are\u00a0a number of\u00a0theories to why whales breach.\u00a0Whales\u00a0can\u00a0carry tiny\u00a0lice in skin lesions and folds, nostrils and eyes and other places where water turbulence is lower and so less likely to dislodge these uninvited\u00a0guests. They are not able to\u00a0swim in the open water, and travel from one whale to another by direct contact.\u00a0It is believed that breaching could be a way\u00a0that a whale\u00a0removes\u00a0them.<\/p>Rise and fall. Credit: Getty video<\/figcaption><\/figure>Breaching could also be used to create a similar effect to lobtailing\u00a0– when a whale slaps his or her tail forcefully down on the surface of the water. Lobtailing seems to be a way of generating loud noise causing fish to become scared and confused,\u00a0resulting in them forming a tighter\u00a0school and\u00a0so\u00a0making it easier for the whale to scoop\u00a0them up.<\/p>
Breaching may be method of\u00a0conveying\u00a0messages to other members of their group,\u00a0a warning signal,\u00a0a courtship ritual,\u00a0or it could, quite simply, be the sheer pleasure of exuberant play.\u00a0There is clear scientific evidence that, like\u00a0us\u00a0humans, some whales and dolphins are highly intelligent,\u00a0socialising\u00a0and living\u00a0in complex societies.\u00a0Play\u00a0behaviours are a clear sign of\u00a0this\u00a0intelligence, be it to\u00a0help\u00a0to\u00a0learn key skills, or just\u00a0because it is\u00a0fun.<\/p>
Of course, breaching could be for\u00a0all of\u00a0the above reasons, maybe even used by individual species for differing reasons. Or\u00a0it could be none of the above, and whales and dolphins are having a laugh at our expense! <\/p>
What is certain is that a breaching whale remains one of the world’s most exciting\u00a0natural spectacles.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
Find out at why whales breach, with the experts from Whale and Dolphin Conservation <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40523,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows.jpg",2109,1421,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-300x202.jpg",300,202,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-768x517.jpg",768,517,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-1024x690.jpg",800,539,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-1536x1035.jpg",1536,1035,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/08\/why-do-whales-breach-6-theories-behind-their-spectacular-aerial-shows-2048x1380.jpg",2048,1380,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Find out at why whales breach, with the experts from Whale and Dolphin Conservation","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}