The most intriguing part of the Project. The behaviour of the subject.

Whale Behaviour

There are a number of different behaviours you may witness during Whale Watching. This are described below.Breaching There are four types of breaching you will witness during a whale watching tour. A spinning head breach, chin breach, tail breach and lunge breach. This may be a form of solicitation, warning device or just a way of having fun. Lob Tailing Lob tailing is when the whale raises its tail or fluke out of the water and slams it down on to the surface. When witnessed, it is usually repetitive with the whale either lying on the surface flat out or head inclined in the water up to 180 degrees. They will either slam their fluke ventral or dorsal side down or switch back and forth without missing a beat. Fin Slapping Fin slapping is when the whale lies on its side, or its back and raises its pectoral fin out of the water, then slaps its fin on the surface repetitively. They may do this with one pectoral fin or utilize both pectoral fins. Dorsal Fin The dorsal fin is fleshy and consists of cartilage, blubber and skin. When the humpback comes to the surface and arches its back, the dorsal fin and caudal peduncle will appear to be a hump on the back of the whale. Pectoral Fin The pectoral fin is approximately 1/3 the body length of the humpback whale. Pectoral fins are believed to be used similar to stabilizers or rudders of a ship. They enable the whale to swim backwards and stop on a dime. These long pectoral fins are where humpbacks get their name Megaptera novaeangliae or big winged New Englander. Flukes The humpbacks fluke or tail fin is very broad and flat, ranging in size from 3-4.5m (10 to 15) feet wide and are capable of propelling the whale at over 12 knots for short periods of time. The flukes normally have a serrated edge and a deeply notch center called the median notch. The term fluking is when the whale raises its tail out of the water and descends beneath the surface. Blow Holes/Blows The blowholes are equipped with nasal plugs, which remain closed until forced open by respiratory contractions. Humpback whales are voluntary breathers where we are involuntary breathers. During inhalation a humpback will fill its lungs to capacity and when exhaling they will expel 90% of their air supply each breath. This blast of air will exit their blowholes at over 480km per hour. It is believed that humpback whales can hold their breath up to 40 minutes. Spy Hopping  spy hop is when the whale raises its head out of the water, typically straight up and down, looking to see what is around them. A spy hop is when the whale raises its head out of the water, typically straight up and down, looking to see what is around them. Traveling whales turn on their side, one eye out of the water, looking at you as they go by. Rowdy Groups A rowdy group or competitive group is when whales, typically males, compete for the position next to the female in estrous. Their whole purpose is to displace the current escort to the female, plying for that position in any way possible. This is what their entire season boils down to, securing their position next to a female and protecting that position from any challenging whale or whales in the area. If a challenger moves into the area, the escort will display surface postures to warn off all competitors and competitors will display surface postures to scare off escorts. A rowdy group can contain as few as three whales or as many as fifteen or more in a single session. They can last from a few minutes to hours at bursts of speed of up to twelve to thirteen knots at a time.