Their vision is limited, and their spherical lenses function far more efficiently in water than in air. Sloughing barnacles. How can the force of a 45 ton whale dislodge a barnacle from its skin as they burrow and glue themselves into the skin?
A study in Ecuadoran waters demonstrated that some do come off with intense activity. Sloughing skin. A Humpback whale sloughs small sections of skin continuously, likely an important role in maintaining healthy skin.
Could breaching aid in that shedding process? Social interactions. This is a broad category! Most of the breaching that I have seen has been associated with bubble net feeding groups, but males will also breach during competitive groups in the tropical mating grounds! Therefore, it is difficult to generalize why a whale would breach in all social interactions! Landing from a breach makes a loud noise.
Just what would the splash communicate? Play behavior. This is an enticing and difficult conclusion. Anthropomorphism is my worry. While visiting the coastal waters of Massachusetts a Humpback Whale might consume over 1 ton 2,lbs of fish every day! Some people have theorized that increased activity may help move food along through the whales digestive system… a lot like if you were to go for a walk after eating a big meal.
Certainly in the case of young calves breaching could very often just be for fun! Young whales, just like the young of any mammal, do have a keen sense of play which is actually quite important for exercising growing bones and muscles, as well as building body awareness and coordination. So just like a puppy, kitten, or even a human toddler, whale calves can be very playful and active, especially when the adults are occupied with other things like feeding.
Imagine bringing a child to a restaurant where you are meeting a few friends who are also bringing their kids. When you and the other adults are gathered around the table talking about grown-up stuff the kids might get a little bored, restless and start running around and getting into mischief.
This might be similar to when the adult whales are busy feeding on the massive schools of fish so commonly found in our area and the calves are left unattended. Perhaps the most widely accepted theory of whale surface activity, however, is that it is a non-vocal form of communication amongst whales.
Now consider that sound travels about 4. So it is not unreasonable to think that when a whale is breaching that other whales, possibly tens-of-miles away, could be hearing the sounds produced by this activity.
It seems as if these whales heard the activity of the whale that we were observing and then answered back by performing a similar activity. This would lend credence to the idea that the activity is a means of communicating with other whales. This is, perhaps, why we do tend to see breaching more regularly in rough weather.
But what are they trying to say? Well, no one knows for sure. The smack can probably be heard by other whales for a very long distance. Yet what whales are saying to each other can only be guessed. Are they alerting friends to plentiful food sources? Enticing mates? Or merely announcing their presence? Another theory is based on the fact that, after breaching, a great deal of dead skin and barnacles are sloughed off from the impact of the landing.
Scientists trying to track individual whales based on their DNA noticed this convenient way of collecting genetic material.
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