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'40 Tonne' Humpback Whale Kicks Chills And Jumps About In The Ocean

'40 Tonne' Humpback Whale Kicks Chills And Jumps About In The Ocean

Loving life.

Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

Whales are pretty fascinating, aren't they?

Well, sort of. They're massive. That's all we really know, but that's still pretty cool.

They swim around dominating Earth's oceans, sometimes playing a huge game of hide and seek with those utter bellends at Seaworld who reckon it's okay to lock them up in tanks.

For the most part though, they seem to trundle along quite nicely in their natural habitat, but this enormous adult humpback has shown just how laid back they can be.

Rather majestically (a word not often used about whales), the huge mammal, thought to weigh around 40 tonnes, swans about jumping out of the water like a synchronised swimmer doing the backstroke.

Credit: Craig Capehart/Storyful

"It was a rare clear, crisp, cold, winter day offshore Mbotyi in Pondoland, Eastern Cape province, South Africa (formerly Transkei)," Craig Capehart who filmed the footage said.

"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.

Credit: Craig Capehart/Storyful

"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 tonne 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."

Not sure it's a rare event, but I'm happy to take Craig's word for it.

Featured Image Credit: Craig Capehart/Storyful

Topics: Whale