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Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...
WDC Seal Rescue April 2023 (1)

WDC conducts milestone seal rescue in Marshfield

For Immediate Release, April 10, 2023 MARSHFIELD, MA - A young grey seal was found...

Hello there! Whale’s leap to let others know they are around

Seeing a whale leap (breach) out of the water and come crashing back down again is just one of the amazing rituals that cause us to marvel at these fascinating creatures. But why do whales do it?

According to new research conducted by biologist Ailbhe S. Kavanagh at the University of Queensland, Australia, breaching is a way of saying ‘hello’!

Whales use sound underwater to communicate, but often levels of noise are too high (perhaps due to boat traffic) to make this communication effective. Whales may resort to other means on the surface of the water to make themselves heard, such as breaching, tail slapping, and fin slapping. The whales use these parts of their bodies to hammer down on the water surface to make a louder noise – like a drum.

Researches from the University observed 76 groups of whales, 88 percent of which displayed these surface-active behaviours. A pattern began to emerged that indicated whales were more likely to breach when the nearest group was more than four kilometers away, and so breaching appears to helps whales communicate between, rather than within, groups. 

The results, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, also showed that whales were more likely to perform these surface-active behaviours when it was windy.

It is also thought that some breaching behaviour is simply a way for whales to remove parasites from their skin. Larger whales are less likely to perform these leaps because of their size, but we caught rare footage of a fin whale (the second largest creature on the planet) doing just that!

As for dolphins, breaching may well be performed for different reasons. You can read more on that here.