Ukrainian polar explorers capture stunning whale jumping
Ukrainian polar explorers show whales jumping (collage: RBC-Ukraine)
The polar explorers showed one of the most amazing spectacles in the Antarctic - whales jumping. They do this often, but to see such an action is a really lucky thing, according to the National Antarctic Science Center of Ukraine.
What species jump
In the video, a young representative of the humpback whale emerges from the water. This particular species is considered the most jumping among its suborder of minke whales.
Jumping is one of the types of behavior of humpback whales on the water surface, of which there are almost two dozen in total.
A whale can jump completely when more than half of the animal's body appears above the surface or partially.
There are also different types of rotations during jumps - clockwise, counterclockwise, or no rotation at all when the whale falls on its back or side.
Why whales jump
Scientists have several assumptions:
- this is how whales can try to get rid of parasites that live en masse on their skin, reduce irritation from them, and “scratch” themselves on the water
- another option is that it is how they communicate with each other. The sound of the jump can be heard quite far away, so it can be used as a signal.
The polar explorers noted that these are only hypotheses because everyone still knows very little about these large animals of the planet, which were heavily exterminated by humans during whaling.
Earlier, we showed breathtaking footage of the sunset on the Atlantic Sea.
The Ukrainian polar explorers also showed a rare whale that has not yet been studied in the world.
