Quick Take
- Scientists still can't agree on why humpback whales breach, and the leading theory turns out to be stranger than you'd expect. Explore the theories →
- Not every leap out of the water counts as a breach. There is a specific threshold that changes how researchers classify the behavior. See the scientific definition →
- The whale's tail is so distinctive it can do something most people would never guess a body part could do. See the tail facts →
- The numbers floating around online about humpback whale weight are wrong, and knowing the real figures makes the backflip even more jaw-dropping. Check the real weight figures →
Humpback whales are enormous animals, which makes what happens in the video above even more impressive. The whale launches most of its body clear of the water and rotates through the air in a breach that looks a whole lot like a backflip. For an animal that can weigh tens of thousands of pounds, it is a remarkable display of power.
Humpback Whale Puts On a Show
The video at the top of this post comes from Nadia Aly Underwater. Aly is an award-winning underwater wildlife photographer who documents marine life around the world, sharing photographs and videos from her encounters in oceans across the globe.
As the clip begins, the humpback disappears below the surface before powering upward into a spectacular breach. Its flukes briefly rise above the water as it dives, and from a distance, their wide shape could almost be mistaken for a bird with its wings spread.
That resemblance makes more sense when you consider the size of the tail. According to the American Cetacean Society, a humpback whale’s flukes can span about 18 feet (5.5 meters) across, with serrated trailing edges and pointed tips. The markings on the underside are also distinctive enough that researchers can use them to identify individual whales.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are giants, but not quite as heavy as some estimates floating around online suggest. NOAA Fisheries says humpbacks can reach about 60 feet in length and weigh up to roughly 40 tons, or about 80,000 pounds. In the video above, the whale propels most of its massive body out of the water, rotates through the air, and crashes back down in a huge splash. Calling it a backflip may not be the scientific term, but visually, it is pretty hard to argue with.
Why Do Humpback Whales Breach?
A full breach occurs when more than half of a whale’s body comes out of the water.
©PaulWolf/iStock via Getty Images
A whale simply coming to the surface is not necessarily breaching. According to NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a breach occurs when a whale propels its body out of the water. If more than half of the body emerges, it is considered a full breach. Humpbacks may also rotate during a breach and land on their backs or sides. Scientists are still working out exactly why whales do it, although the Ocean Conservancy notes that researchers suspect breaching and slapping the water with fins or flukes can serve as a form of communication.
Humpback whales communicate through sound as well as physical behavior, and a breach creates both a tremendous splash and sound that can travel through the water. That does not mean every breach has one simple explanation, though. Scientists have not definitively established a single reason humpbacks breach, and context may matter. People watching them sometimes interpret the behavior as play or pleasure, but that is much harder to prove. Whatever motivated this particular whale, the resulting breach gave the people watching one heck of a view.
