Whales often emerge from the water, but people are not able to see this action so often.
Ukrainian scientists from the station “Academician Vernadsky” filmed how whales in Antarctica emerge from the water and spin over the ocean.
Video published by the National Antarctic Science Center.
In the video, a young representative of humpback whales emerges from the water – this species is considered the most jumping among its baleen whales.
“Jumping is one of the types of behavior of hunchbacks on the surface of the water, of which there are almost two dozen in total (according to NOAA – the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). In English this is called breaching whale – that is a whale bursting out of the water. It can jump out completely (when more than half of the animal’s body appears above the surface of the water) or partially,” scientists said.
They also added that during jumps there are different types of rotations – clockwise, counterclockwise, or no rotation at all, when the whale falls on its back or side.
Scientists have several guesses why they do this:
“But these are only hypotheses, because we still know very little about these largest animals on the planet, severely exterminated by humans during whaling. At the same time, Ukrainian scientists are actively involved in the study of cetaceans in the Antarctic. In 2018, a comprehensive research program was launched at our Akademik Vernadsky station. It, in particular, includes photo identification, biopsy sampling and recording of whale sounds,” the scientists noted.
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Remember, a record number of penguins were counted at Vernadsky – photo.
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