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Humpback whales are incredible creatures that humans have studied for a very long time. While scientists certainly know more about them today than they did even just a few decades ago, it is clear that they still have a lot to learn.
One behavior that scientists are wondering about is known as gaping. This is where a whale will open its mouth very wide. Of course, it is known that gaping is used to catch small fish and plankton to eat, but whales have been seen doing it even when no food is nearby.
It seems to be a relatively new phenomenon as well, which makes it even more curious.
Since the activity that scientists want to study only happens during the breeding season, when they are swimming in areas with very little food, and it is impossible to predict, it is also very hard for them to gather evidence.
So, the researchers have turned to tourists and tour boat operators to get video and pictures of this type of gaping. Using ‘citizen scientists’ to gather information is becoming increasingly popular in the scientific community because people today have high-quality cameras in their pockets at all times, and can be an excellent source of material.
When a tourist is out whale watching, you can be sure that they are taking as much video as they can to document the experience. As of the publication of a study on gaping, which was published in open access in Animal Behavior and Cognition, researchers have gathered 66 separate examples from videos and photos provided by these citizens.
According to Dr. Vanessa Pirotta of Macquarie University, this information will help them to learn more about this behavior. She explains:
“Why would a whale decide to open its mouth without food? We assume it’s energetically expensive.”
There are already multiple theories about why a whale would want to engage in this feeding behavior even when there is no food around. She said:
“One theory is it is a form of communication. When it has been seen, it has always been in a social context.”
When the whale engages in gaping, they may be telling the other whales in the pod some type of information, though what that could be is not yet known. Another possibility is that the whales want to entertain the tourists:
“Whales do watch people on a boat, they’re very aware of the boat presence.”
While humans need to be careful about assuming something is done just for our benefit, it could be the case. Whales know that humans watch them, and since it has been decades since commercial whaling of humpbacks has been banned, they likely don’t see us as any type of threat.
Whales are very intelligent and seem to be curious, so it is entirely possible that they engage in gaping and watch the reaction of the humans. Of course, when a massive whale opens its mouth widely, the humans will undoubtedly react strongly, which may encourage the behavior in the future.
One last possibility is that the whales have always done this, but it is only recently that it has been documented. Whales may engage in gaping when no food is around in order to exercise the massive muscles required for opening and closing their mouths. Since they go for months at a time with minimal feeding, this may be necessary to avoid muscle atrophy.
The researchers do think, however, that even if this is a part of it, it is not the only explination. Based on how many observations they have seen, they are confident that gaping in the presence of humans is happening more today than it ever has, even accounting for the increased number of cameras to capture the evidence.
Whatever the case, lucky tourists will undoubtedly keep capturing this behavior on video, which may help scientists to come up with even better theories.
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