for a typical forty ton humpback to breach the ocean’s surface – and breach is taken to mean at least fourty percent of its body is out of the water – it needs to reach speeds of at least thirty km an hour. reasons for the behaviour remain debated, with theories varying from mere pleasure, to courtship or shedding the skin of parasites. it’s not uncommon for an adult to make multiple breaches, with the most recorded atone hundred and thrity jumps in ninety minutes.
(to learn more on the humpack’s journey from hawaii to alaska, see this post. see this post for freediving with humpbacks. click pic and or link for credit: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x)
wishwhale 