Playing Or Cleaning: Why Do Whales Breach?
Playing Or Cleaning: Why Do Whales Breach?
The popular theory of why whales breach is either because they find it to be fun, or because it is part of their cleaning ritual. People think that there is a specific reason why whales jump out of the water. The truth is that they don’t do it for one reason. Whales jump out of the water, whirl in the air, and then slam back in the ocean many times in a row; then, there are those times when they only do it once and then, you don’t see the whale jump out again. Here I am sharing the possible reasons why a whale jumps out of the water.
Sending Messages
It is possible that the humpback whale uses this technique to communicate with the others. They might want other whales to know that they are going to change course, or an attempt to woo a potential partner. It is thought that the breaching is done because the environment under water is too noisy for the other whales to make out what the other whale is trying to say, especially if the other whale is too far away.
Cleanliness
Breaching can be a routine case of the whale cleaning itself. It is possible that with cleaning, a whale is using motion to get rid of pesky parasites that are on its body. That is probably why it whirls once it gets out in to the open air.
Territory
Breaching is done by whales as a form of a territorial action. It means that a whale may be sensing an approaching intrusion or a threat. Breaching works as a good way to intimidate the intruder to retreat and therefore, the method of breaching also serves as the whale establishing its own turf. The whale may be trying to scare away a group of other sea animals, or a ship. It is also a way for them to chase away other predators from their prey.
Looking Around
Breaching may be done by the whales as a way of checking the surroundings. If a whale hears a noise that is bothersome, they might breach as a way of simply looking out over the horizon; it is as simple as that. If it is jumping out of the water only once, it is possible that they are doing it just to confirm what’s approaching, which could be a vessel.
For Its Own Entertainment
It is possible that a whale jumps out of the water for its personal entertainment. Many times, whale watchers notice that whales usually breach when they are all on their own. However, you also see two or three whales doing it on a landscape, which means that they might just be enjoying a play session.
Apart from breaching, a whale might even hit the top of the water with their heads, tails, or fins. Whale acrobatics is the undisputed star of whale watching.