Humpback Whale Peduncle Slap
One of the more powerful and aggressive behaviors a humpback whale can perform is a peduncle slap. The peduncle area of the tail is that nearest to the flukes. In this energetic display the whale throws the lower portion of its body out of the water, and in a sideways action slaps its peduncle on the surface.
Photo by Capt. Gene Flipse
Humpback Whale Peduncle Arch
The peduncle arch is seen just before making a deeper descent. The whale will arch or hump back out of the water in order to breath and make a more vertical descent. This is often a sad thing to see when whale watching because they can stay down for a long time.
Humpback Whale Pec Slap
The humpback’s pectoral fin is longer than that of all other species of whales, measuring one-third the whale’s body length. During a pec slap, a humpback will lie on their side or back and slap their long fin along the top of the water. Humpbacks will slap the water’s surface with one or both fins simultaneously, serving as a communication to other whales.
photo by deep sea images
Humpback Whale Head Lunge
A head lunge is when the whale lunges forward with its head raised above the water and forcing their head down on the surface with a splash. The mouth and throat are sometimes inflated with water which serves to exaggerate their apparent size. This is generally accepted as an aggressive behaviour and is most often observed during courtship battles between males.
Humpback Whale Fluke Up Dive
When humpbacks are about to dive they will often take a breath and then roll their body forward and dive, throwing their tail flukes into the air and exposing the ventral surface of the tail. When the tail of the humpback appears out of the water in an upward arch this is the best time to identify individual whales.
Humpback Whale Fluke Down Dive
A fluke down dive is much like the fluke up dive only the surface of the tail is folded over and not exposing the underside. Many people think this is an indication they are diving deep, but a peduncle arch is more indicative of a whale diving into deeper waters. Fluke up and down dives are usually made for smaller, shallow dives.
