40 Ton Humpback Whale Leaps Entirely Out of the Water!

[mysteryowl]

[catbyte]

1. They are such magnificent, fascinating beings. I go to Maui every chance I get to watch them.

They travel there every November to April. Absolutely breathtaking. Thanks for posting!

Edited to add: If we can travel again, I have reservations for two weeks in March. Fingers crossed.

[mysteryowl]

3. Great. Have you seen them totally out of the water like this?

[catbyte]

7. I have. It's absolutely breathtaking.

[Deuxcents]

9. I've been to Maui twice

Both times in February..watched them all day after getting there early for my favorite spot. I’ll never forget how beautiful and thrilling it was. Safe travels back..wish I was going, too!

[ybbor]

14. I lived along the road to Hana

Had an amazing ocean view and feel extremely fortunate to have witnessed breaching humpbacks. Never completely out of the water, but it is still awesome.

[SunSeeker]

15. I was just in Maui this last December. Never saw so many whales in my life!

They were all off Lahaina. The people in the little yelliw Zodiacs got scary close, but it must have been a thrill. I was in the big Whale Foundation boat, because they use the ticket money for whale research and preservation, and there's a bathroom! Stil saw a lot. But none that completely left the water!

[2naSalit]

2. Wow! That was cool!

[mysteryowl]

4. Very cool, indeed. 40 tons jumping like that!

[2naSalit]

5. That's the weight...

Of a fully loaded semi! Can you imagine? It was like they were putting on a show for these guys, floating on their backs slapping the water. They must have been playing.

[mysteryowl]

6. I thought so too, playing and/or show.

I think both!

[soothsayer]

8. Magnificent

[captain queeg]

10. I wonder why they do that? Is it just playing?

[BigmanPigman]

17. That is what I was wondering too.

It looks like they are having tons of fun but is there a reason behind this behavior?

[Brother Buzz]

20. Old school thought was Humpback whales breached to knock off barnacle growth

At least that was what I was told fifty-five years ago.

[Acornsouth]

22. they are trying to get the Barnacles off themselves...

[BigmanPigman]

24. That makes sense.

However, part of me wishes that they are so super happy that they do this for fun or are playing, like sea otters.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

11. Wow! Freaking amazing

I cannot imagine what it is like to watch a 40 ton whale breaching near me.

[dchill]

12. Wow! That's on the same planet I'm from!

[ailsagirl]

13. Truly spectacular and literally breathtaking!!

[SunSeeker]

16. Amazing!

Wish I was on that boat!

[calimary]

18. Breathtaking! Absolutely mesmerizing!

Beautiful creatures. Magnificent!

What a fabulous find, mysteryowl! Just WONDERFUL!

Thank you!

[msongs]

19. flying an ultra light over shark infested waters takes a bit of nerve too nt

[Cracklin Charlie]

21. I want to be a whale in my next life.

I may entertain boaters. Sometimes.

[burrowowl]

23. Wow! Kick!

[StarryNite]

25. Amazingly beautiful.

[Neema]

26. AMAZING! It is such a profound thrill to witness that, like

winning the lottery. The first time we went to Maui, we did a sunrise whale watching trip. I'll never forget it because the captain of the boat said the whales in the area that morning were Blue whales. He then apologized and said that guests tend to be disappointed by Blue whales because they don't generally breach due to their enormous size. The most we'll see, he said, is the water spout and maybe a bit of the top of the body.

We did indeed see a spout a short time later, and even that was exciting. The captain started telling us about how large the Blue whale was under the surface and in relation to our boat, but that it's difficult to see. Just then, the whale actually breached! Not fully out of the water like this, but we saw a good portion of his body followed by a huge tale slap. It was absolutely awe-inspiring. The captain was stunned into silence for a bit, then started hooting and hollering with excitement. Back then I had a crappy camera so the shots don't look like much, but man the experience was mind blowing.

A couple days later we took helicopter ride and got to see a whole pod of Humpbacks from the air, that was mind-blowing as well.

[DFW]

27. We see that every year

My family and I always take a few weeks on the tip of Cape Cod every summer. It's a pain in the ass to get to from here, but it's worth it every time. The Humpback whales put on a show every time. This year, we even had the rare experience of seeing some humpbacks breaching so close that we could watch the show from the beach. Usually, you have to go out on a boat. We did that this past summer as well, and the whales didn't disappoint us.

When they feed up close, the view is sometimes really spectacular as well.

[Fla Dem]

28. Whale version of "Anything you can do, I can do Better". Amazingly AWESOME!

But aside from entertaining the tourists, it does look like a competition.