Check Out This Double Humpback Whale Breach Off British Columbia Coast

This is the incredible moment a school of humpbacks whales breech just feet away from docked boats, showing off their giant bodies. A group of bystanders watched as the behemoth majestically beached the surface of the water near the coast of British Columbia.Show more

Leigh Torres, a marine ecologist and National Geographic explorer who is also a professor at Oregon State University and one of the bystanders, said that seeing the animal so close to the docks is surprising. The humpback whale populations are expanding, so they are probably looking for new location to find their prey, or avoid competition. Despite the close quarters, these individuals seem to be using the “bubblenet” technique, where they blow a ring of bubbles around a school of prey, hemming them in for an easy capture.

When you see something so majestic so close, you might be tempted to get even closer, but Torres urges people to make sure to avoid the beasts and let them feed instead and just enjoy the sight.

Scientists are still unable to reach a consensus behind the breaching behavior with whales, but they are generally within the same conclusion - it’s a way to show off. Either they’re showing off to a female, to a nearby rival, or to a scout from a different school, telling them that they are invading territory.