Well, they do. A lot.
The following clip shows how, around the islands of Hawaii, dolphins and humpback whales have been engaging in some form of sea wrestling, with the whales lifting the dolphins out of the water and letting them slide down their backs.
There are a number of pictures across a number of locations, meaning that this behaviour is more widespread than first thought.
The observers noted that the behaviour was unlike other animal symbiotic relationships in that it was not for a beneficial purpose (such as parasitism), but almost certainly for play.
Scientists who investigated the phenomenon noted that there is also zero evidence that the behaviour was hostile – but a quick look at the clip will show you that.
Like me, you are probably upset that whales and dolphins have been hanging out together all this time and they didn’t tell us about it.
We are unsure exactly what the whale gets out of this situation, other than perhaps a nice back rub, but the pictures certainly make me want to put on the ol’ dolphin costume and head down to the beach.
Is it a brush? Is it a broom? No, it’s baleen!
It is found inside the mouths of baleen whales which are known as Mysticetes or the ‘Moustached whales’. This bristly mouthpiece is actually comprised of keratin which also makes our hair and nails. The baleen whales are among some of the largest whales in the world, including the blue whale and the humpback whale among others. Despite their enormous size, these giants feed on some of the smallest creatures in the ocean, krill and small fish. They swallow vast quantities of water and expel the water through the sieve-like krill plates. The little creatures get trapped in the baleen and the whale licks along the plates to flush the creatures into its mouth.
Suzanne Burns 2015.
If a humpback whale was to go through the rigmarole of American airport security, he would be presenting his tail to them for scanning. We as humans, usually have our retinas and fingerprints scanned to make darn sure that we are who we say we are. In other words, a whale’s tail is as good as his fingerprint for all the intents and purposes of identification.
A whale’s tail is also referred to as a fluke and it is a unique and very powerful piece of equipment. The fluke is the rudder, brake and propeller for the whale. It moves in a vertical plane, pushing the enormous whale through the water with powerful thrusts. As well as locomotion the tail is used for communication and protection. Whales sometimes slap the water in what appears to be jovial exuberance. At other times this repeated slapping is used as a warning to predators to keep their distance or incur a heavy penalty if you venture too close. A 40 ton whale with a fluke of 4m wide is quite literally a lethal weapon. You do not want to be on the tail end of an agitated whale. To do so is suicide or at the very least, partial maiming.
The whale fluke has become somewhat of an iconic image, being used in so many instances from jewellery to branding of myriad of products and services. On close examination of this impressive appendage, many interesting shapes and creatures are actually to be found living on this fantastic fluke. Barnacles are commensal creatures that live their lives on their whale host. The barnacles can be helpful in identification as sometimes large aggregations are found on particular areas of the whale’s tail. The barnacles are an additional ally in a whale’s armoury. If a whale faces attack from a predator not only is the fluke an enormous aid, but the razor sharp coating of the barnacles will tear the skin of the whale’s foe. At times the barnacles will come off the whale’s fluke and the discolouration will also be useful in identifying the whale.
In Northern Vancouver Island, BC, a group of scientists, naturalists and whale enthusiasts have banded together to identify the humpback whales that spend their summers in the area. Each whale has had its fluke and also its dorsal fin photographed countless times. The best photos are used in cataloguing and identification of each humpback individual. Some whales have been named based in the fluke appearance. ‘Argonaut’ is so called because it has what looks like an ‘A’ notched into its fluke. Another whale called ‘Yahtzee’ looks like it has a dice sitting on its fluke ready to roll. Lesions, scarring due to entanglements with fishing equipment, close encounters with propellers and predators all take their toll on the integrity of the whale’s fluke.
The underside of the fluke is used to identify the whale as the colours and patterns tend to be more highly variable on this side than on the dorsal surface. Colouration on the ventral side of the fluke can range from an almost exclusively white side, through to a mix of white and grey, while others are more uniformly dark grey. Some flukes have an almost frilled edge which looks like some very feminine patterning while others have an almost straight edge to their tail. Combining these various attributes gives the keen eyed whale identifier plenty of information to figure out who is who.
This non invasive method of identification has done wonders for getting real data on whale populations and social dynamics. Incredibly with the humpback whale alone over the past decade, the numbers of whales in Northern Vancouver Island are increasing. The humpbacks seen and identified has risen from approx two animals in 2002 to over 50 catalogued in the past couple of years. Every whale tail we see is a beacon of hope for this beleaguered species and for its entire kin.
Suzanne Burns 2014.
Underwater mammals in the waters of Azores solve their childcare issues in a spirit of mutual cooperation
By Philip Hoare, 10th July 2011. The Guardian.
Sperm whales may be the biggest predators that ever lived, but they have childcare issues too. The solution? A very big babysitter.
Here in the Azores, where I’ve spent the past two weeks diving with sperm whales off the island of Pico, a resident population of these remarkable mammals search for their main source of food: squid.
While the sperm whale is a natural submarine, able to dive a mile in depth for up to two hours, young calves still suckling their mother’s milk (which is 60% fat, with the consistency of cottage cheese) cannot undertake such deep plunges. So while their mothers hunt for food, calves are cared for communally in what amounts to a cetacean creche. This accompanying image, taken by the accomplished underwater photographer Andrew Sutton, shows whale altruism in action. Only one of the four juveniles with this large female is hers; she may not even be genetically connected to the others.
João Quaresma of Espaco Talassa, our Azorean skipper, told me that to see four young with one female is unusual. “Calves start to feed themselves at around three or four years,” he says, “but they’ve found whales up to the age of nine still suckling.” Studies by scientists such as Dr Hal Whitehead of Nova Scotia University have shown that sperm whales organise themselves in highly complex societies, communicating in discrete dialects of sonar clicks, passing on culture learned matrilineally. Such behaviour reinforces what we are beginning to discover about the intelligence of these whales, which possess the largest brain of any animal.
Operating under special licence from the Azorean government which determines strict care for the whales’ welfare, Andrew and I snorkelled with this group, watching them silently twisting and turning around one another in a physical expression of social solidarity. It was a salutary moment. In the 20th century, our species came close to driving the great whales to extinction. This week, the International Whaling Commission meets in Jersey to decide the fate of cetaceans around the world. Conservationists hope that they’ll make the right decisions. Sometimes whales need more than a babysitter to help them – even when she’s 12 metres long.
Humpback takes seal under its flipper to cheat predators
by Philip Hoare
The Guardian, Thursday 26 November 2009
There are plenty of stories of cetaceans saving humans. Indeed, Jonah was rescued by a whale when he was thrown overboard, and there have been tales of dolphins assisting swimmers in distress or shielding them from circling sharks.
Killer whales, however — themselves a species of dolphin — didn’t get their name for nothing. Early Basque whalers called them whale killers when they saw them attacking other whales. Hunting like a pack of wolves, orca know no fear. They’ll tear the throats from grey whale calves, and have even been known to take chunks out of sperm whales — the largest predators that ever lived.
But here’s a sight to gladden the eye. Earlier this year, Californian scientists Robert L Pitman and John W Durban sailed to the Antarctic in search of killer whales. They were looking for a possible new species, known to hunt Weddell seals — one of the plumpest of the pinnipeds (the suborder that includes seals and sea lions) — by washing them off ice floes with their wake.
That’s what was happening here — until a group of humpback whales arrived on the scene. Unlike orca, which are odontocetes or toothed whales, humpbacks are mysticetes, harmless leviathans with only baleen plates in their mouths.
Doubtless open-mouthed themselves, Pitman and Durban — along with a film crew from the BBC Natural History unit — watched as one seal, swept into the water by the orca, swam towards the humpbacks.
As the killer whales moved in, the plucky pinniped leapt on to the vast ribbed belly of a humpback, and nestled in the animal’s armpit. Not only that, but when a wave threatened to return the seal to danger, the humpback used its massive flipper (at five metres, the longest in the animal kingdom) to nudge it back on.
“Moments later the seal scrambled off and swam to the safety of a nearby ice floe,” wrote the scientists. They believe the seal triggered a maternal defence mechanism in the humpbacks. Whatever the truth, it’s a heartening tale. But spare a thought for the orca. They’ve got kids to feed, too.
Whales, whales everywhere! This was how you could describe the incredible day we had on the M.V. Lukwa. We sailed down Blackney Pass bursting with anticipation. Word was out that the orca were back. We had been patiently waiting for this day and we were delighted when we first caught sight of them this morning.
A group of orca called the A42‘s appeared ahead of us to our starboard side! This family are descended from the A5 pod and are made up of five members. The mother is called ‘Sonora’ and she was born in 1980. She has four of her young with her. The oldest, born in 1996 is a male called ‘Surf’. He was joined by his siblings ‘Current’ and ‘Cameleon’ who were born in 2004 and 2008 respectively. The youngest one was born last year and is yet to be named. This family are ‘residents’ or fish eaters only and their fish of choice is chinook salmon.
As we were watching transfixed by the sight of these phenomenal pescetarians, humpbacks started to appear to our port side! One of the humpbacks which is known as ‘KC’ or Kelp Creature breached while we observed the orca! Four humpbacks were seen altogether and another was identified as ‘Guardian’ by Sophia our naturalist on board. Lots of sea birds were seen milling around the whales, attracted by the glut of food in the water. We observed five Steller sea lions in Weynton Pass, right in the kelp bed. Bald eagles swooped over the sea lions in their watery lair.
The afternoon trip was all geared up and ready to see some orca. We headed south towards Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. We got word from the reserve warden, Marie that the orca were still in the area, close to the rubbing beaches. Marie works for a voluntary organization called ‘Cetus’ that patrol the reserve and surrounding areas during the summer. They educate and advise local and incoming boaters and help protect the whales from boat strike and entanglement in props and fishing gear.
The orca did indeed reappear close to shore, east of the reserve. It was confirmed that it was the same orca family we had seen this morning. ‘Surf’ was swimming alone while the rest of his family stuck close together. They began to disperse after a while and we watched awestruck as they dipped and weaved around us.
Cruising past Cracroft Point, Blackney Pass we saw a humpback. It was suspended in the swirling water and rose and sank with grace and ease. For such an enormous creature, it could slink from view effortlessly. Alison, our naturalist identified the wily whale as ‘Argonaut’. This whale is so called as it has what looks like to be an ‘A’ notched into it’s fluke. Some speedy Dall’s porpoises appeared momentarily after Argonaut disappeared. They looked so tiny after seeing such a huge whale.
So it’s a very warm welcome back for our resident orcas. An incredible opportunity to see an orca family thriving in the wild and spending summer in our waters.
Mist rolled over the mountains this morning like dragon’s breath as we cruised out of Telegraph Cove. Within minutes of our trip we saw our first blow of a humpback whale while watching several mature and immature bald eagles. We were able to identify the two humpbacks with the help of our on board naturalist, Kyle who referenced the MERS Humpback ID catalog (www.mersociety.org).
The first whale identified was ‘Argonaut’ and the other was ‘Slits’. Argonaut is so named as it has what looks like a capital ‘A’ etched into the left underside of it’s fluke. Slits is a newcomer on the scene, having been first spotted last year. Both whales appeared to be ‘logging’ i.e. spending lots of surface time resting and short dives of 6-8 minutes.
At times Dall’s porpoises were all over the whales, leaping around them. The Dall’s porpoises were numerous and very active bow and wake riding the boat. It was quite the sight.
Rhinoceros auklets and murres were some of the other alluring avians we saw today. We even saw a small black tailed deer feeding high on the edge of a cliff.
Our afternoon sailing was a glorious combination of moody fog and brilliant sunshine with the animals providing us with tantalising glimpses into their worlds. Dall’s porpoises were repeat offenders and came along wake riding the Lukwa. The mist rolled in again and we initially tried to find ‘whales by braille’. By this, we took our time and listened carefully to the characteristic resonant sound the humpbacks make when they breathe on the surface.
The fog, thankfully, was not meant to be. We made our way towards the ever increasing blue and entered Blackney Pass. The water whirled and fumed as we sailed through, churning up all sorts of small creatures in it’s fury. Two whales were found to be capitalizing on this bounty, feeding furiously in the maelstrom. The two seen were identified by Sophia our naturalist as ‘KC’ and ‘Guardian’. KC had been spotted approx.40km south yesterday so it made it all the more special to see this whale. We spent an hour here watching these behemoths weave their way through this whirlpool. An unexpected guest also joined the goodness and happened to be a minke whale which is known as ‘Bolt’. Bolt has been seen in this area since 2000.
Our guests were thrilled to see such a prolonged and wonderful sight of these whales feeding and diving. One couple called Phil and Tania from Gloucester, England fulfilled their dreams by seeing these gentle giants wild and free. Glaucous winged gulls, young and older sat and flew over the riffled water, unperturbed by all the activity around them.
At Weynton Island, a couple of harbour seals were precariously balanced on rocks. As we made our way back towards home, the wildlife kicked off in earnes. Two Steller sea lions roared in the kelp, as some beautiful bald eagles flew above them. Two more humpbacks appeared close by, providing us with ample opportunities to observe and photograph them. Slits was one of the two seen again. We wrapped up our trip with a glorious cruise back to port. Life is good!
What makes a day special? Wildlife, and particularly whales! We had two fantastic trips today with a vast array of beautiful creatures, from Dall’s porpoises, harbour seals, Steller sea lions, Pacific white sided dolphins, humpback whales, deer, orcas, eagles, rhinoceros auklets and even a sea otter!!!
The porpoises were our entourage as we started our morning. They were superseded by seals hauled out on the rocks at Whitecliff Islands. A couple of sea lions were swimming around the Plumper islands. The dolphins got in on the action and approx. eight adults bow rode the boat to our amazement. In Bull Head, Weynton Pass which is synonymous with whales and orcas, we were thrilled to see six different humpbacks. Our boat naturalist Kyle was able to identify three of the whales. The ones he recorded were ‘Argonaut’, ‘Horizon’ and ‘Conger’. Our Captain Geoff got word that a rare sea otter was in the area. They are seldom seen on our trips so we were thrilled to see one at Whitecliff Islands. It appeared and then disappeared quickly, giving just enough time for a quick viewing.
Our afternoon trip was slightly damper with the rain coming in. Luckily the wildlife here are predominantly pelagic so pay no heed to such frivolous concerns. At the Plumper’s, the eagles swooped and soared over the trees. Argonaut came back with a big steaming breath near our port side. He had a companion to the starboard side which we were unable to identify. Within minutes, two more humpbacks appeared with one of them confirmed as ‘Guardian’ by Alison, our naturalist.
We got word from a local researcher, Jared Towers that transient or Bigg’s killer whales were close to Alert Bay so off we went. Our excitement mounted as we ventured forth to find ‘Blackfish’. A big male orca known as T012A was the first one we spotted, swimming close to the shallows. This is a 32 year old lone orca that is known to occasionally associate with other transients. A small family group of transients was then seen straight ahead of us known as the T109A’s. This family consists of a 24 year old female with three young ones that were born in born 2005, 2009 and 2012. These four initially appeared to be resting but then the young ones youthful exuberance took over. Breaching, spy hopping and tail slapping were all behaviours witnessed over the next half hour to our delight.
Heading back to port we saw some harbour seals with last year’s young. The Dall’s porpoises made another visit through the Plumper Islands. A guest from Switzerland spotted a young deer on shore nimbly leaping over the rocks. The eagles were seen to gather in the trees high above us, young and adults all vying for space on the branches. Below them, four male Steller sea lions broke the water surface in unison, before diving swiftly again. A day bursting at the seams with wildlife and incredible spectacles. We were truly blessed.
A day of calm, fine weather with quite ‘wild’ wildlife made for a heady brew for our trips today. We started with a very exciting morning, with one area in particular being a hot spot for us. As we cruised out, we were flanked by some Dall’s porpoises, leaping in parallel to us. On entering Weynton Pass, things really started to go off, Three Steller sea lions were found morphing their bodies in with the bull kelp. Then a super pod of Pacific white sided dolphins appeared. They bow rode, leapt and swam in an astonishing display of cetacean synchronicity. And if that was not enough excitement, we were joined by a humpback whale.
We were lucky enough to get some good shots of it’s tail fluke and it was identified by our on board naturalist Sophia as ‘Argonaut’. A couple of humpbacks were seen in the area also from a greater distance so we were unable to see who they were. We are continuing our efforts to identify as many whales and orca as we can this season to help all the scientists and researchers who work with these magnificent creatures. With proper identification shots of dorsal fins and flukes, we can send these pictures to MERS (www.mersociety.org). This whale has been seen in the area every year since 2009.
The clement weather continued to accompany us on our afternoon sailing. In the Eastern Queen Charlotte Strait, we had a feeding frenzy with birds and dolphins capitalizing on the bounty. The dolphins showed incredible agility and leapt in a way to give any acrobat a run for their money! One passenger observed a single dolphin do 18 leaps high out of the water.
Approaching Broughton Archipelago, a sleepy humpback whale was seen by us and the dolphins. They rapidly approached it and started swimming and jumping around the weary whale. From what we could see, the whale appeared irritated by the intruders, perhaps somewhat akin to a dog being ‘buzzed’ by flies.
At the Whitecliff Islands, another somnolent whale was briefly observed on the surface. Harbour seals were relaxing amongst the rocks and suspended in the water, as they espied us. An adult bald eagle surveyed the scene from it’s perch above them. Other birds that were seen during this trip were pigeon guillemots and rhinoceros auklets.
At Bull Head, Weynton Pass, a humpback surfaced quickly before descending. It afforded us the chance to get another identification shot for the day. This one was recognized by our naturalist Alison as ‘Argonaut’. It appears that this whale shows consistent site fidelity as this area has been a stronghold for it since 2009. At the Plumper Islands we saw a large eagle’s nest high up in the trees. Argonaut continued to trail close behind us, fluking intermittently. The Steller sea lions were also seen again in the kelp with jumping Dall’s porpoises in the background! To add to the party, a harbour seal popped up and Argonaut gave us his encore before we sailed back to port.