Australian Kayaker Witnesses Whale Ritual Rarely Seen by Humans
An Australian YouTuber caught a rare sight when he witnessed a humpback whale doing a headstand.
Brodie Moss was out cruising in a translucent kayak this weekend near Western Australia when he caught heart-stopping footage. It shows a humpback whale with its motionless tail pointing out of the water.
“What the hell is going on?” Moss marvels as he paddles closer. At this point, the boater dips a handheld camera underneath the water to reveal a small calf swimming circles around its parent. Both whales can clearly be heard singing, a common communication tactic for the species. Moss first believed the whale was acting odd because of his kayak, but later in the video he reveals that what we’re seeing is an example of “tail sailing.”
Tail sailing is a phenomenon rarely witnessed by humans. It involves the whale sticking its tail directly out of the water for long periods of time. Denise Risch, a marine mammal ecologist at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, told Daily Mail UK that tail sailing “has often been observed in humpback whale populations in their winter breeding grounds and also in other species such as southern right, gray and bowhead whales.” According to Risch, research from Brazil shows that whales of every social class with the exception of calves engage in tail sailing.
The precise reason whales tail sail is unknown, though scientists speculate it could be a nursing ritual, or simply a way for them to rest while keeping cool. Other theories suggest it may be a way for them to literally sail through the ocean, or an optimal position from which to feed off the ocean floor. However, scientists admit there is no clear evidence to support either theory. “Like so many other things when it comes to whale behavior, it is currently not known why they do this,” Risch admitted.
