Unless an enormous Blue Whale happens to be breaching right alongside. In this amazing short clip, a female surfer does an impressive trick in the saves. Turning over 180 degrees in the air, she comes down with her board on the crest of the wave and the tail of the Blue Whale disappearing back below the surface in the background. The clip is short so we don’t get to see her reaction to the whale or even if she noticed that it was there. Tricks like these require a lot of concentration and focus. It is possible that she didn’t see the whale as she was so intent on her own positioning in the air. Fortunately, it was caught on video so she can have a frame-worthy shot even if she didn’t see the whale at the moment. People who watched the footage thought the same thing. “If you pause it right when the wheels up at the same time as her air that’s probably one of the coolest shots you can ever have of yourself,” wrote one commenter. “Great job that was an amazing picture,” wrote another.
Why Do Whales Breach and Tail Slap?
Breaching and tail slapping are both common behaviors for whales. They can be for a variety of reasons, most commonly used as a form of communication. Tail slapping is when a whale extends their tail out of the water and slaps it back hard against the surface. That is what is seen in this video. Because it is in slow motion and only a short clip, it’s hard to say for sure how forcefully the tail slap was. When whales feel threatened, they use tail slaps to show dominance, warn off threats, and appear large and aggressive. It is possible that this whale felt threatened by the surfer but not likely since it was further out and much larger. Whales can also use tail slaps to show off for other whales. Males make a big show of this behavior to try and attract potential mates. Breaching, when the whale throws its entire body out of the water and comes down with a giant splash, is similar in function. It can warn off potential predators or threats, as well as communicate to potential mates that the whale is healthy and powerful. One interesting theory is that whales use the actual sound waves generated by these movements to communicate, possibly over long distances, to other whales. We’re not sure if they can control the frequency of the sounds or just it more generally to sound the alarm about threats in the area.
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