Do Blue Whales Breach? The Truth Explained

Of all the spectacular sights in the ocean, few capture our imagination like a breaching whale. A breaching whale leaps fully out of the water before crashing back down. This is an incredible display of these marine giants’ power and grace.

But when it comes to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale, do these massive creatures actually breach like their smaller whale cousins?

Let’s dive in and explore the answer.

Do Blue Whales Breach?

Yes, blue whales do breach. Although it is relatively rare compared to other whale species like humpback whales. Blue whales can weigh over 150 tons yet still manage to launch their massive bodies out of the water and back down with incredible force. 

Below is a video of blue whales breaching:

Why Do Blue Whales Rarely Breach?

There are a few key reasons why blue whales rarely breach compared to other whale species:

Size and physiology

As the largest animal on Earth, blue whales weigh approximately 100-150 tons on average. Lifting their massive bodies out of the water requires an enormous amount of energy.

Breaching can put unacceptable levels of stress on their bodies, particularly on impact with the surface. Even for blue whales, breaching may just be too physically taxing.

Lack of flexibility

Related to their great size is blue whales‘ relative lack of flexibility compared to other whale species. Blues have streamlined, muscular bodies that aren’t quite as agile as the stockier bodies of humpbacks and right whales.

This decreased maneuverability could make breaching more difficult or impossible. Blues may simply lack the nimbleness required to fling themselves from the ocean.

Feeding behavior

Blue whales are baleen whales that feed by taking in enormous mouthfuls of krill and small fish.

Breaching is thought to sometimes function as a feeding strategy for rorqual whales like humpbacks. This allows them to herd and corral schooling fish.

But blue whales are different. Their immense size enables them to lunge and engulf entire swarms of krill in a single gulp. They have little need for complex feeding behaviors like breaching.

Lack of social behavior

Science is that breaching is a form of communication and social display for very social whales like humpbacks.

However, blue whales generally lead more solitary lives. They don’t engage in elaborate social interactions to the same extent as humpbacks.

So, for blue whales, there is not as strong a need to signal other whales. This may be one reason breaching is not really part of their normal behavioral patterns.

Conservation needs

As one of the most endangered whale species, blue whales need to conserve energy. If they breach unnecessarily, they will use up the calories they need to survive and care for their young. In fact, the eLife study found breaching is energetically costly, especially for the largest whales – blue whales.

Why Would a Blue Whale Breach at All?

There are several possible reasons why blue whales may breach on rare occasions:

Communication: Like other breaching whales, blue whales may breach to communicate with other blue whales over long distances. When whales breach, they make loud sounds that can travel very far underwater. This helps blue whales stay in contact with each other while they are feeding or socializing over miles.

Courtship/mating displays: Breaching may function in blue whale mating behaviors as an impressive visual courtship display. Males in particular could breach to attract females or compete with other males.

Response to threats: Breaching may startle or ward off threats like predators or boats that get too close. For blue whales, very occasional breaching could serve as a warning signal.

Physical relief: Some experts note that breaching may provide temporary physical relief from parasites or algae growing on whales’ skin. For giant blue whales, very infrequent breaching may help remove irritants.

So, while extremely rare for blue whales due to their size. However, the few observed breaches could fulfill important roles in communication, reproduction, defense, or relief – just like in other breaching whale species. Energy conservation remains the primary limiting factor.

Where and When Blue Whales Might Breach?

Breaching is most likely to occur during breeding/mating season when blue whales are socializing. Their breeding grounds include warm temperate and tropical waters globally from December-March.

Areas, where blue whales concentrate on feeding or mating, increase the chances of observing a breach. Breaching takes a lot of space and depth. Blue whales need adequate room to gather momentum for a partial leap. As a result, breaches occur most often in certain habitats and conditions:

Gulf of California, Mexico: In winter/spring breeding grounds here. Two blue whales were filmed synchronously breaching in a rare event.

Offshore waters: Areas well away from shore offer the depth and space to breach. Nearshore waters are likely too constricting.

Open ocean: Blue whales roam vast pelagic zones rarely seeing land. These open expanses are ideal for breaching.

Deep water: Depths of at least 50 meters provide ample draft for breaching. Shallow waters restrict their ability.

Summer feeding: Increased summer feeding may provide energy reserves, enabling breaches.

Is Breaching Risky for Blue Whales?

Breaching does pose some risks for blue whales due to their massive size:

• Energy expenditure: Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, need a lot of energy to support their huge bodies. When they breach, they have to use a lot of power to jump out of the water. This can use up a lot of calories.
• Injury potential: Jumping into the water from high heights can hurt them, like bruising or breaking your ribs. Younger, less muscular whales may be more vulnerable.
• Drowning threat: While rare, a whale could potentially misjudge its breach and become stranded after surfacing. The enormous whales would have trouble resurfacing quickly on their own if unable to roll back in the water.
• Disturbance effects: Breaching may attract unwanted boat traffic, hoping to observe the spectacle. This increases risks of collisions. Noise from breaching carries far and could disrupt feeding/social behaviors of other whales.
• Energetic tradeoffs: The calories burned breaching would be better spent on critical functions like feeding to support their energy-intensive metabolism, nursing calves, or migrating long distances.

Because of these risks, breaching seems very risky for blue whales given their huge size and high energy needs. This is likely why they don’t breach often compared to smaller whales. Overall, blue whales probably only breach when conditions are low risk for these endangered giants.

How High Can a Blue Whale Breach?

Height estimates vary, but the general consensus is that blue whales can fully clear their body out of the water when breaching. The maximum height is around half the whale’s body length.

Adult blue whales typically range from 80-100 feet (24-30 meters) in length. So, using the half-length estimate, breaches would reach around 40-50 feet (12-15 meters) high at maximum.

However, breaches may not always go this high. Energetic constraints limit breaches of blue whales to likely under 20 feet (6 meters) on average.

The whale’s size, health, and breach angle would affect how high it can jump. Younger/smaller blues may clear less high.

The highest fully documented blue whale breach on record was estimated to reach about 30 feet (9 meters) out of the water. That is an event off Santa Barbara in 2021.

So, bursts up to around 50 feet high may be theoretically possible. But most blue whale breaches are conservatively estimated to reach between 12-30 feet high on average, with many factors at play.

Do All Whale Species Breach?

While dramatic breaching behavior attracts a lot of attention, not all whale species are known to breach.

The whales most famous for their breaching abilities include:

• Humpback whales
• Right whales
• Gray whales
• Bryde’s whales
• Minke whales

These medium-sized animals often jump out of the water with a lot of energy.

On the other hand, some of the largest whale species like blue whales and fin whales breach more rarely. As discussed, their enormous size makes launching fully airborne more difficult.

Certain small whale species like pygmy right whales and harbor porpoises mostly just break the surface without true breaching. They lack the mass and power for dramatic vertical jumps.

We don’t know much about breaching in beaked whales and sperm whales. They don’t spend much time near the surface where we can see them. They may breach on occasion, but this remains unconfirmed.

So, while the most acrobatic, athletic breaching displays come from midsized whale species, others may breach situationally as well. Every whale has its own distinct habits and abilities.

But the fact remains – no whale breaches quite like a humpback, with its 30-40 ton weight allowing true hang time and often added spins and flips above the waves!