Atlantic humpback whales dance together, delight researchers

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Humpback Whales 'Dance' Together
Humpback Whales 'Dance' Together


Need a moment of beauty in your busy day? This video of Atlantic humpback whales is one minute and 25 seconds of pure bliss.

Storyful explained that researchers following the migration of Atlantic humpback whales to warm Caribbean waters got treated to a wondrous natural spectacle. The underwater surprise was one they won't soon forget -- and now you won't, either.



Kieran Bown uploaded the video to YouTube, and his organization, Panga MX, provided the following information:

Throughout 2014 Panga MX researchers carried out a study in Turks and Caicos following the migrating population of Humpback Whales. We learnt many things and captured some amazing footage of unique behaviours that had not been recorded before. It was an unforgettable experience that the team could not forget and something that left us all wanting more.

2015 brought a new whale migration as the Atlantic Humpback population went about their yearly routine of returning to the warm Caribbean waters to mate, have their young and avoid the perishing cold water of the Arctic Winter.

The return of the whales to the Caribbean is something that we had all been looking forward to for the past 10 months and once they arrived it did not disappoint. Although the weather was not as great this year and conditions proved to make encountering whales more difficult we still managed to capture some amazing footage.

It was late in the season around the last week of March when Panga MX researchers encountered four adult Humpbacks close to the surface in deep water. The whales were completely at ease with the presence of the boat and snorkelers and continued in their trance like state for a long time allowing us to film them.

Singing and dancing with each other the whales passed close to one another as if engaging in some sort of playful dance. The whales paired up, rolled and turned with one another, it was a magical sight. It wasn't until about 20mins into the encounter that the whales started blowing bubbles. Humpback Whales have sensitive skin despite having a thick outer layer of blubber and can feel the slightest touch or contact. The whales began to blow bubbles and almost massage one another with their bubbles.

We had seen Humpbacks using bubble blowing behaviours in other situations before; defensive, playful, whilst competing for a female but never like this. We all watched in awe at the dance and how the whales continually interacted with one another.


Have you ever seen anything like this? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Speaking of whales, did you see this adorable baby beluga whale born just last month?


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