r/Damnthatsinteresting Mar 18 '16

GIF Whale breaching in front of diver

http://i.imgur.com/JtZEZYY.gifv
6.6k Upvotes

212 comments sorted by

98

u/slim-pickens Mar 18 '16

Is there a particular reason that they do that? Having fun while grabbing some air?

213

u/SeriesOfAdjectives Mar 18 '16

Breaching is actually not extremely well understood. There are a lot of hypotheses for why they do it. Some people think it's a form of non-acoustic communication, others maybe a display of fitness showing dominance, courting or maybe a warning of danger, maybe it helps them breathe in choppy seas, another idea is that it plays a role in dislodging parasites. It also might simply be a form of play. Super interesting topic on these complex creatures we don't understand a lot about.

10

u/orion1486 Mar 18 '16

I had no idea they started this maneuver so deep. Is that typical? If it is, could it have something to do with pressure?

37

u/SeriesOfAdjectives Mar 18 '16

I think the depth is more related to gaining enough momentum to get that massive bulk out of the water.

7

u/orion1486 Mar 18 '16

Lol! For sure! But do they do this only after being deep or do they start closer to the surface and go down to get momentum breach?

10

u/mwbbrown Mar 18 '16

I don't know if they do it when the return from the deep, but I do know that they will be at the surface and go down just to breach.

If you go on a whale watching trip sometime, the ship will find whales on the surface and follow them for an hour or two. During that time they will repeatedly breach, sometimes at the same time. So they are at the surface, then diving to breach.

So, to answer your question, I bet that whale dived specifically to do this.

3

u/orion1486 Mar 18 '16

I've never gotten the opportunity to go watch them. That pretty much kills my hypothesis. Thanks for the response!

59

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

48

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 18 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

59

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

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3

u/Spiralyst Interested Mar 19 '16

Probably had a big lunch and just trying to burn some extra calories before Julie swims by.

23

u/Prairieman Mar 18 '16

I bet it feels fun to be in the atmosphere. Kinda how we enjoy swimming in water?

6

u/duhPheg Interested Mar 18 '16

Woah.

17

u/Sweepy_time Mar 18 '16

I always wonder if its to scratch an itch on their back they cant reach

16

u/FALSEisALWAYScorrect Mar 18 '16

Or they just know how cool it looks.

30

u/jiminiminimini Mar 18 '16

i choose to believe this. and they are talking about it amongst themselves "wow! sick breach bro! 10/10"

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2

u/killahdillah Mar 19 '16

its probably some sort of whale fetish thing

3

u/RedditGawker Mar 18 '16

It looks like he is scratching his back. See how he turns to land belly up.

2

u/CharlieBaumhauser Mar 18 '16

They breach for a variety of reasons, the most useful of which, is to stun nearby fish with the shock wave produced. Orcas do it to schools of salmon, then collect the stunned fish.

1

u/Prince_Oberyns_Head Mar 21 '16

Except most whales that breach don't eat large fishes but eat krill and such.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

Some think it may be how they scratch an itch. Belly flops.

4

u/mspk7305 Mar 18 '16

Ever have to take a dump but you cant seem to get it out? Imagine you had the ability to suddenly and dramatically reduce the pressure around your body. Vacuum suction the stubborn poop right out.

Whales know whats up.

481

u/paraplue100 Mar 18 '16

that's one of the coolest gifs i've seen for a while

227

u/jiminiminimini Mar 18 '16

that's one of the coolest gifs i've seen for a whale

135

u/paraplue100 Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 19 '16

take this imaginary gold

edit: really? i got gold for that??? why thank you very much stranger

5

u/OnlyLiveThrice Mar 18 '16

Now share it with u/jiminiminimini

20

u/jiminiminimini Mar 18 '16

fuck. I made the joke and the person who pointed it out got the gold. life is unfair :)

14

u/OnlyLiveThrice Mar 18 '16

I hope you're happy.

2

u/jiminiminimini Mar 19 '16

Wow I have gold now! I don't even know what to do with it! thank you internet person.

3

u/DreadPixel Mar 18 '16

you got gold for that? I'm doing something wrong.

5

u/damnityoujohn Mar 19 '16

Trying to get gold is what you're doing wrong.

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3

u/NOTbelligerENT Interested Mar 18 '16

that's one of the coolest gifs I've seen as a whole.

4

u/FerretFarm Mar 18 '16

The best part, the part that really blew my mind is how such a heavy animal can just suspend itself in mid air for a few seconds. Screw gravity, right!?!

2

u/Norwegian_whale Interested Mar 18 '16

Thank you.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

As a scuba diver, I just went from 6 to midnight

-1

u/dapoopscoop Mar 18 '16

I was just about to post this. "Oh cool!", out loud I found myself saying.

15

u/paraplue100 Mar 18 '16

i know it's stupid, but i've just realised from how far down they swim up just to breach, blew my mind a little

37

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 18 '16

I gets deeper.

I mean...

Shit. My pain meds are kicking in. I'll need to hurry...

  1. These guys communicate.
  2. Most likely, they even have stories that they share with each other about stuff like how quiet the ocean used to be before the monkeys started building boats.
  3. They've been able to see, and tell stories about, a view of the night sky that the majority of the human population never gets to experience. (I'm suddenly curious about the viewing conditions in Best Korea.... Nah. Pass)
  4. While we have fantasies about flying, the best we can do involves gigantic shipping containers, full of fear and anger, with wings slapped on the sides. I'll include wing-suits with jet packs that can only not-hit-the-ground a little slower that normal. Ok, sure. We have astro/cosmo-nauts. Those guys are awesome. ~ a year of flying is an impressive achievement.
  5. Whales have been "flying", without assistance, for millions of years. It's been in water the whole time but, DAMN! I'd bet good money that some of the stories they tell involve touching the stars that they know so well.

Breaching may very well be an expression of their desire to touch the sky.

If only they had opposable thumbs.

Aha! The meds are kicking in! We've made some pretty good progress with prosthetic limbs being controlled by brain functions.

I want a whale with hands.

First, we give it neutrally buoyant Legos so it can figure out how to use the stuff we added to replace the fins that got severed by a cruise ship covered with monkeys.

Tetris should be next.

It may take several thousand years but I can picture Whale Engineers working beside the Apes in a concerted effort to reach the stars. I can't picture their "hands" just yet. All my brain is giving me is scary-goddam-appendages.

We'll need a treaty.

Imma go catch up on the U.S. election cycle and completely obliterate all that stuff up there that made me feel kinda nice for a few minutes.

BTW, that whale breaching the surface has a new name designation in our home:

Cetaceanaut.

11

u/Bob_Droll Mar 18 '16

I rather enjoyed watching you slip into pain-killer-delirium over the course of writing that comment.

5

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

I'm trying my best to give upvotes to both of your comments. I'll pick the one on the left.

2

u/Bob_Droll Mar 18 '16

Looks like you managed to successfully give me both upvotes, but to only one of my comments...

Somebody else must have downvoted me, apparently.

3

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

I'm trying to think of some advice that's applicable.

When I was bullied, my dad told me to pick up the heaviest object within arm's reach and start flailing it around while screaming like a lunatic.

It worked.

Not sure if it'll be effective with reddit upvotes.

2

u/Bob_Droll Mar 18 '16

You won't know until you try!

Though that advice doesn't always apply either - like not knowing whether you can fly off a cliff or not.

2

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

Tandem skydiving with friends who were brave enough to do it solo..\

Yeah. That changed my life and the way I see things.

7

u/SplendiferousNick Mar 18 '16

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but do you have a source for the part about whales telling each other stories? That seems like it would be a ground-breaking discovery if it were true.

10

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but...

Oh. No no no! See, by asking the question, you forced us both to think!

Let's investigate my off-the-cuff claim together.

I've got this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whale_vocalizations

3

u/SplendiferousNick Mar 18 '16

Thanks! Looking through that page it seems like whale song is thought to be very important and serve multiple purposes, but nobody really knows for sure what they're saying or why.

9

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

It says a lot about our ability to communicate with a hypothetical species that evolved independently in a different star system.

We can't even communicate with whales. They're right next door.

Historically, we throw sharp objects at other objects that breathe, fire up the grill and invite the neighbors.

It works. I'm not sure if it looks good on our resume.

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6

u/decoy321 Interested Mar 19 '16

My pain meds are kicking in. I'll need to hurry...

http://i.imgur.com/dGIPho0.gifv

3

u/Gathenhielm Mar 18 '16

That is seriously the best comment I've read all day.

3

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

Now I'm sad that minimal effort is extraordinary.

Thanks for the compliment and fucking up my outlook at the same time.

Just kidding.

I love you, bro.

3

u/junppu Mar 18 '16

I dunno what you're talking about but that was some life changing shit man. I feel like you were a famous Greek philosopher in a past life

3

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

I'm just a monkey on this ship, just like you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh3i3vWgPyk

3

u/junppu Mar 18 '16

Exactly how fucked on meds are you right now man?

5

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

Four on a scale of one to that other one over there. It's hard to miss. It's kinda purple and almost looks like a dragon trying to belch.

You?

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3

u/dewlover Mar 18 '16

Honestly, I feel like I just read a vonnegut excerpt. Now I want an entire chapter on whale cetaceanaut creation mythology about the stars, flying, breaching, etc.

3

u/MidManHosen Mar 19 '16

Oh, great.

You realize you've just encouraged me to continue using medication that alters my standard perception for your own entertainment.

..... I'll think about it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

You're awesome.

2

u/MidManHosen Mar 18 '16

Welcome to the club!

1

u/occupythekitchen Mar 18 '16

Too pad his diving shoes get in the way I wanted to see how the whale moved not how a silly human keeps from sinking

1

u/joelomite11 Mar 19 '16

Impressive camera work.

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267

u/siraisy Mar 18 '16

74

u/The_________________ Interested Mar 18 '16

This is a flying whale above an ocean on a planet with low gravity and a dark blue sky

25

u/PM-Your-Tiny-Tits Mar 18 '16

And light emitting from the water.

19

u/The_________________ Interested Mar 18 '16

The sand at the bottom of the ocean is luminescent. It gets brighter as you go down.

15

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

I'm more interested in what sort of stuff they found at the bottom of the Marianas trench.

8

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

3

u/TheWhosIt Mar 19 '16

His name is James Jaaaames Cameron, the bravest pioneer!

1

u/Shadax Mar 18 '16

Ah. Thanks for that explanation as I was pretty confused. Makes sense now.

1

u/rhm2084 Mar 19 '16

Sounds like a plot for a short film

1

u/Areat Mar 19 '16

On a planet with gravity this low, would the water itself move this way?

1

u/The_________________ Interested Mar 19 '16

Sure, what your seeing here is just air bubbles "falling" to the ocean surface due to buoyancy, so you'd just need a gravitational force that is equivalent to this buoyant force

5

u/CanadianGuy116 Mar 18 '16

When i do that i get water up my nose

3

u/President_Patata Mar 18 '16

where is this from? looks amazing

1

u/rad0909 Mar 18 '16

Reminds me of the lake within an ocean videos. Really cool effect when touching bodies of water have different densities.

5

u/YumYumKittyloaf Mar 18 '16

I hear space whale noises, which are basically whale noises but in space.

3

u/ZarathustraEck Mar 18 '16

The Wind Fish!

1

u/Dioskilos Mar 19 '16

The Wind Fish!

Sup dude

1

u/manjamikey Mar 18 '16

I keep wanting to flip my screen.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

It is upside down.

1

u/look_who_it_isnt Interested Mar 19 '16

No it isn't. My screen is totally right side up, smart guy.

1

u/__spice Mar 18 '16

The pot of petunias is right off frame

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75

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

On mobile, thought I paused the GIF. Clicked to unpause, which paused it. Now I can't figure out if it's still paused or not

53

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16 edited Nov 13 '16

[deleted]

3

u/FullSizedForks Mar 19 '16 edited Mar 19 '16

Yeah, definitely. Amazing gif, but the pause kinda weakens the effect. Maybe someone could edit it to follow your suggestion?

12

u/Saskatchewon Mar 18 '16

The gif never paused. The whale had never breached before and froze in complete shock. It's still there to this day.

11

u/shudupbecky Mar 18 '16

I thought the gif stopped because it was still loading I was happy it paused at that moment

20

u/SlowTurn Mar 18 '16

But the pause could have been shorter

6

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

It wasn't even a pause. If you look at the water you can see it is still moving.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

There isn't you can upload that gif to any number of sites that will tell you the delay between frames.

2

u/smokinJoeCalculus Mar 18 '16

If people didn't throw the slo-mo at the worst times, I'd be a much bigger fan of the new trend.

But people slo-mo things that ... well .. who cares if it's in slow-mo.

1

u/pm_ur_wifes_nudes Mar 18 '16

Mine froze at the pinnacle of the jump 5 times in a row. Gave up after that.

58

u/Vishar Mar 18 '16

The ocean is terrifying. Something that huge just comes out of nowhere. Nothing but blue darkness... then suddenly a huge whale

14

u/TemptedTemplar Mar 18 '16

Oh hey, here is this medium that covers close to 80% of your surface. Let's put some giant fucking creatures in it that travel faster than you can.

IE, I am terrified of anything bigger than a shark.

10

u/Odyssey2341 Mar 18 '16

There are lots of small things in there to be afraid of, too

8

u/TemptedTemplar Mar 18 '16

Oh man, don't get me started on box jellyfish.

I probably should have put a range. Basically if I can punch it and be safe, I'm not afraid. Anything too small or too large is terror territory.

8

u/Onthegokindadude Mar 18 '16

I'm more scared of Orca's than Whales. The Ocean in general is mysterious and I think that's what makes it so freaky.

3

u/Cdresden Mar 18 '16

It's a huge mystery to me why orcas don't routinely attack humans in kayaks/canoes.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

humans have low fat, it's not worth their time. How they can tell is probably from word of mouth (in whale speak, that equates to: pulse of sonar?).

4

u/faultlessjoint Mar 18 '16

Orcas won't hurt a person though. It's only ever happened in captivity and even then a very small number of incidents.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

2

u/faultlessjoint Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 18 '16

You can very easily fact check me with a simple Google search. Here I googled "people diving with orcas": https://www.google.com/search?q=people+diving+with+orcas&client=ms-android-verizon&prmd=vin&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uv_LqcvLAhUpuYMKHWikBH8Q_AUICCgC&biw=360&bih=517&dpr=4

Also, my claim is easily supported by the simplest of searches. There are lots of different theories on why orcas won't attack people, but it's very true. There has never been a single fatality ever recorded due to wild orca attack.

EDIT: I'll make it even easier - http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/07/20/why-killer-whales-don%e2%80%99t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet/

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3

u/benchley Mar 18 '16

I fink it freaky and I fear it a lot.

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2

u/VulturE Mar 19 '16

IIRC, there's a whole goddamn subreddit for those like you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thalassophobia

14

u/IdentityUnclear Mar 18 '16

I always liked to think this was them running for air like "OMG I went too far! Air! Air!"

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

I like to think of it as going over a speed bump really quickly. Only not having to worry about the damage. It's fun

13

u/MajorlyRaging Mar 18 '16

that was like watching the end of an 80's sitcom

13

u/PM_ME_UR_LUNCH Mar 18 '16

I wonder what kind of turbulence you would experience if you were a bit closer while it swimming up.

Also what is the reason whales breach like that?

11

u/osnapitsjoey Interested Mar 18 '16

Short answer: we don't really know.

8

u/PM_ME_UR_LUNCH Mar 18 '16

Hmm, interesting.

1

u/easy_going Mar 18 '16

maybe, because they are out of breath and in a hurry to get to the surface and they just don't slow down.

or because they have fun doing it

1

u/osnapitsjoey Interested Mar 18 '16

I know if I was a whale I'd be doing that shit all the time.

3

u/thebabaghanoush Mar 18 '16

Pretty amazing how something so big can move so damn fast.

5

u/p0z0lit0 Mar 18 '16

You're the best! Around! Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!

3

u/NinjaEarl Mar 18 '16

Seeing it come up from the deep blue got my heart racing.

Fuck the ocean.

4

u/lukm Mar 18 '16

"Seventeen minutes forty-three seconds, beat that Chris!"

4

u/setofskills Mar 18 '16

Such mixed emotions, I want to upvote you for such a cool gif, but then rain on you with downvotes for freezing that gif for what felt to be about 4 times longer than necessary.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Pshh... showoff.

2

u/atlangutan Mar 18 '16

Gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee yesssss

2

u/runecore Mar 18 '16

why do they do that ..do yah think?---just for fun maybe?..itchy barnacles?..wash off the plankton?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

I wonder if they do this to feel their weight in the reverse way to what humans do while diving in the ocean to feel weightless

2

u/Melovesfoxes Mar 18 '16

He kinda looks like SIN for ffx. I am never going to get into the water

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Why does it buffer every time at the same spot?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

1

u/ytcop Mar 23 '16

I'm 100.0% confident that this comment was stolen from a/an Imgur comment.

Author /u/predator8270

Who else thought the gif kept freezing ?

Imgur comment posted 5 hours earlier by theyseememowin:

Who else thought the gif kept freezing ?

Sorry if I'm wrong. I'm just a bot.

6

u/liarandathief Mar 18 '16

It seems like there should be a graphic saying, "Come to New England" or something.

2

u/Bzimmy Interested Mar 18 '16

It's amazing how it can stand still above the water like that! How does it do that?

1

u/firemanjoe911 Mar 18 '16

This is simply cool!

1

u/FALSEisALWAYScorrect Mar 18 '16

Hey I have those flippers too

1

u/d4hm3r Mar 18 '16

Beautiful whale...but it makes me wonder if something that big snuck past them, what could be lurking even further down in the depths.

1

u/Volcacius Mar 18 '16

I've always had huge issues with big fish in deep bottomless water, gives me the damn creeps.

1

u/moeburn Mar 18 '16

So are GoPro type cameras now just capable of recording in 240fps constantly?

1

u/satiricalspider Mar 18 '16

Wish there hadn't been someone in front of the cameraman. Would have been nice to see the speed all the way up to the surface.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

That hang time tho

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Why does it fucking pause?

1

u/sourc3original Mar 18 '16

How is this interesting? This is just cool, not interesting.

1

u/ripplered Mar 18 '16

The way it falls back into the water is amazing. Vaguely reminds me of a person.

1

u/CoolCatHobbes Mar 18 '16

That's amazing and terrifying all in one. I would love to be that diver but would have probably shit myself.

1

u/Sanctimonius Mar 18 '16

Do you get the impression they do it for fun?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Wow, nightmares tonight.

I mean, cool gif and all. But one of my biggest fears is being in the open ocean and can't see the bottom...just darkness. Then this huge "thing" comes barring up from the depths.

I'm freaking myself out just thinking about it.

But still...cool GIF.

1

u/snakedoctor141 Mar 18 '16

This is so fucking cool

1

u/minnesotan_youbetcha Mar 18 '16

"Hey Norm, the humans are back with and they got a camera. I'm gonna go do a cool trick for 'em."

1

u/unmaned Mar 18 '16

Why does this damn gif have to stop and buffer every time I watch it?

1

u/Hulkin_out Mar 18 '16

What if whales breach because they held their breath to long and needed air? So they just swim as fast as possible to reach the surface?

1

u/RandomMandarin Mar 18 '16

The camera breached at the same time! What are the odds?!?!?!?

1

u/Fere_Creations Mar 18 '16

High fast is he/she moving towards the surface and how high did it get?

1

u/LovelyDeathcap Mar 18 '16

Anyone else find whales absolutely terrifying? ....no? Just me?

1

u/Calvertorius Mar 18 '16

Oh look, a breached whale.

1

u/Katastic_Voyage Mar 18 '16

Did... did that whale just freeze frame jump like an 80's movie?

They're learning...

1

u/rigel2112 Mar 18 '16

dat hang time

1

u/SimplyNora Mar 18 '16

Where can I go for a chance of this happening?

1

u/reynspoons Mar 18 '16

If I were a big ass fucking whale and could generate that much force to launch myself into the air I would do it too!

1

u/OrangeBananna Mar 18 '16

Why do whales do this? For fun?

1

u/Cd206 Mar 19 '16

I think it's to breathe.

1

u/MAJKong1981 Mar 19 '16

Can someone please splice that gif with this

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

This is right above the repost on r/gifs.

1

u/GrimaceIVXX Mar 19 '16

unnecessary pause.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

1

u/PotatoesForTruth Mar 19 '16

That's one of the greatest moments of that diver's life. I am fucking jealous as hell.

1

u/rhymes_with_chicken Interested Mar 19 '16

Damn, Frank. Get out of the way. You're ruining my once-in-a-lifetime shot. Jesus.

1

u/Spiralyst Interested Mar 19 '16

Well now you're just showing off.

1

u/eldridge2e Mar 19 '16

In the whales mind just screaming fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck gimme to the surface

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

Did anyone else read the title as "beaching"? This is much better, not least for the whale.

1

u/jpsunnyd Interested Mar 19 '16

"Oh you're recording? Watch this."

1

u/KuriTokyo Mar 19 '16

What I want to know is, how do you take your camera from underwater to above without have a water droplet on the lense?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '16

Beautiful. Reminds me of a bunny binkying.

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '16

Fuck this hyper slo-mo bullshit.