40 Ton Humpback Whale Leaps Entirely Out of the Water! A Video by Craig Capehart
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Published 2017-07-20
The seas were unusually calm that day on the Indian Ocean. That wouldn't last long, soon returning to howling winds, whitecap waves, and giant swells! Did I mention it was cold - on land, at sea, and in the water?!
We are four SCUBA divers in a small "rubber duck" inflatable boat with two powerful 110 hp four stroke outboard motors. Clive is captain, Carlos is divemaster, and Levi is deckhand.
We are hunting for sardines. It is the annual world famous "South African Sardine Run", a mass migration of pilchard fish up the east coast of Africa.
Actually, we are not interested in the sardines but rather the predators they attract. Hungry bottlenose and common dolphins herd the long line of small sardines into compact groups called "bait balls". Once a ball is formed, a feeding frenzy ensues. Dolphins, sharks, and birds feast on the dense pack of small fish.
An ultralight airplane is overhead, looking for the action. Sightings are radioed to us and off we go at breakneck speed, hoping to record some real action. (Marius Nel, pilot)
Sadly, our six or seven hours daily on the water entail mostly waiting, waiting, and waiting a little longer until we find the elusive sardine bait ball.
Entertaining us while we wait are migrating humpback whales. Some are a mothers with calves. Some are males traveling in small groups.
This day, there were few sardine sightings but the whales seemed to be everywhere! An unexpected bonus!
This video shows a humpback whale mother cow swimming with a calf. It shows an adult 40 ton whale on its back, slapping both its left and right fins on the water, then leaping entirely out of the water!
It seems that never before has a recording been made of an adult humpback whale leaping entirely out of the water! A very rare event, indeed.
Dolphins and even Great White Sharks have been seen flying out of the water, but this is a first for an adult humpback whale!
Note: I sometimes have to remind my northern hemisphere friends that although it is summer in July and blisteringly hot and dry in parts of America and Europe, in South Africa it is exactly the opposite! It is dark, cold, winter now! Did I mention that it is cold?
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(c) Craig Capehart
All Comments (21)
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Whale: In search of intelligent life above surface. Us: Ooooooh, aaaaaaaahhhhhh. Whale: Moving on.
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Imagine being an early new world explorer a thousand years ago, and seeing these MONSTERS leap out of the water. It must've been absolutely terrifying. Amazing footage.
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When my mother was alive we would go whale watching off Cape Cod and see the humpbacks do this there. There are few things in life more wondrous than to look up into the eye of a whale as they splash you. The smaller the boat the more spectacular the view. I've been in a tiny 24 foot boat with the outboard cut off as dozens of humpbacks breach continuously for hours. It never fails to astonish me how such massive, majestic beings can fly out of the ocean and come crashing down mere feet from you without creating hardly any wake like a champion Olympic diver getting perfect tens every time. You don't even have to chase after them. You need only meet them half way and they will swim right up to your boat and say hello, literally. On more than one occasion I have had a fully grown adult humpback come right up to the boat and give it a gentle nudge then place it's flipper right on the bow yet barely displace it more than few pounds. It is truly amazing how such a huge creature could take such great care in being so gentle. We could learn many lessons from them.
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I think the whales know they're putting on a show.
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Humans: Let's take a dive in the water Wales: Let's take a dive in the air
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The power generated to get 40 tons out the water!!!!!!😦😮
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Little did they know it was the whales' Olympic season. Reverse-diving and synchronized fin-slapping.
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Dolphins: Let’s do some splashing for the humans on the boat, they get a kick out of it! Whale: HOLD MY BEER!
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he honestly didn’t look a pound over 39 tons
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That's how much power I need to get out of bed
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This gave me just a real life like experience, the video was edited(for speed changes) very well so that we can see the details completely also without loosing the actual feel. Thanks a lot to the owner
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Beautiful animal of our planet. People should protect them at any price!
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She knows they are filming her,she just showing off!
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THIS is the real "sea world" and the only way anyone should ever be lucky enough to see these glorious creatures. No whale should ever be stuck in a cement pond and be forced to entertain!
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She knows she has an audience and is showing off.
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They are absolutely MAGNIFICENT.
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The title should have been "Just a whale loving life"
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the whale flapping her fin is the female. that motion indicates she wants to mate. then the males fight each other and show their strength (jumping, running into each other, blowing bubbles) to win the females affection. once the female chooses her male they run off (humpback whales have never been recorded mating). then the other males chill out and start kind of dancing with each other sometimes. they're amazing!!
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Thank you brother, for those few minutes, all was well , no heaviness of political polarization, no COVID19 drama, just Mother Nature at her best!!!! What an epic experience that you had with the Creator, thanks for sharing that beautiful piece ☮️❤️
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Several years ago off the coast of Maui, I had the fortune of seeing two humpback whales doing a double breach! A lot of people caught it on cameras and phones. I was one of the few who saw it in real time. Some didn't realize what had happened until they saw it in playback. I have no regrets and it is forever etched into my memory!
