Questions about “Why Do Whales Breach?” in this most spectacular of behaviors.
Why Do Whales Breach?
Breaching is perhaps the most sought-after behavior by whale watchers (and it is certainly the most common photo on any whale watch company’s brochure!
We have seen a lot of breaching recently, and that has prompted many questions from our passengers about “Why Do Whales Breach?” in this most spectacular of behaviors. Thus I figured I’d write a blog about breaching behavior in whales… Humpback Whales in particular. It’s kind of long, but I hope you will find it fun, educational, and interesting.
In this spectacular display of athletic prowess, the whale will dive beneath the surface for a few seconds or minutes only to surface vertically with great speed. Often the animal will twist while in mid-air and then come crashing down with thunderous splash.
While all whales have the ability to breach, none do it as often as the Humpback Whale. But while breaching is quite common amongst Humpback Whales it is certainly not something that we see on every whale watching trip.
Another reason that predicting when whales will become active is that there is no time of the year or day that whales are more likely to breach! You simply need to be in the right place at the right time to see it when it does. Obviously the more time you spend watching whales the better the chances you will see one breach. Ultimately that’s really how ALL of nature watching works: The more time you spend watching, the more you will see.
Why Do Whales Breach? Some of the main theories include:
1. REMOVAL OF PARASITES
2. AID IN DIGESTION
3. JUST FOR FUN!
4. COMMUNICATION
In conclusion: No one knows why whales exhibit this spectacular behavior. They probably become breach for all these reasons listed above at one time or another… and maybe for reasons that haven’t even occurred to us yet. All we as whale watchers can do is hope to be present when these behaviors occur… and hopefully we’ll have our cameras ready too!