Claire. Posted March 10, 2017 #1 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Never-before-seen gatherings of hundreds of humpback whales. In a mysterious change to their normal behaviour, humpback whales are forming massive groups of up to 200 animals. Humpbacks aren’t normally considered to be terribly social. They are mostly found alone, in pairs, or sometimes in small groups that disband quickly. But research crews have spotted strange new social behaviour on three separate cruises in 2011, 2014 and 2015, as well as a handful of public observations from aircraft. These super-groups of up to 200 were spotted feeding intensively off the south-western coast of South Africa, thousands of kilometres further north from their typical feeding grounds in the polar waters of the Antarctic. Read more: New Scientist 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docyabut2 Posted March 11, 2017 #2 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Quote It does seems they are gathering to migrate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnchorSteam Posted March 11, 2017 #3 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Maybe this just looks new to us. It wasn't so long ago that there were so few of them that gatherings like this weren't possible, they nearly went extinct. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Waters Posted March 12, 2017 #4 Share Posted March 12, 2017 I would be happy just to see one whale. A gathering of around 200 would be an incredible sight to witness. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted March 12, 2017 #5 Share Posted March 12, 2017 (edited) On 3/11/2017 at 3:28 AM, AnchorSteam said: Maybe this just looks new to us. It wasn't so long ago that there were so few of them that gatherings like this weren't possible, they nearly went extinct. That is what I was thinking. Now that their population is recovering maybe they are reverting to their normal behavior. Hopefully that is teh case and the trend continues. 2 hours ago, Still Waters said: I would be happy just to see one whale. A gathering of around 200 would be an incredible sight to witness. My son and I watched a young humpback troll back and forth a couple hundred yards offshore a week ago. Mostly just the spray but it was still awesome. Edited March 12, 2017 by Merc14 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawken Posted March 12, 2017 #6 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Maybe they're going to migrate to Wales or New South Wales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarjarbinks Posted March 12, 2017 #7 Share Posted March 12, 2017 I saw the same thing happened last month in Texas when McDonald had a 60% sales on double cheese burger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsec Posted March 12, 2017 #8 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Are they gathering in order to finally plan how to take the world over? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Posted March 12, 2017 #9 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Every 100 years or so, they congregate to elect a new Jarl of the Oceans. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted March 13, 2017 #10 Share Posted March 13, 2017 5 hours ago, Parsec said: Are they gathering in order to finally plan how to take the world over? Time for them to make their move. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted March 13, 2017 #11 Share Posted March 13, 2017 On March 11, 2017 at 3:28 AM, AnchorSteam said: Maybe this just looks new to us. It wasn't so long ago that there were so few of them that gatherings like this weren't possible, they nearly went extinct. I thought as whales go, Humpbacks were fairly common, and I thought they were not a big target of whalers in days past. It is curious they are aggregating in large numbers. I saw them in Hawai`i in the Moloka`i Channel when I was a teenager, it was really cool to see them breaching offshore of Maui. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0wn Posted March 13, 2017 #12 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Could this possibly have something to do with fukushima? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNYC Posted March 13, 2017 #13 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I know this is not the case, but in my perfect world they are gathering to attack anyone that attacks them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandi Posted March 14, 2017 #14 Share Posted March 14, 2017 So long, and thanks for all the fish?... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woopypooky Posted March 15, 2017 #15 Share Posted March 15, 2017 lets hope the whaling ships arent nearby 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptid_Control Posted March 17, 2017 #16 Share Posted March 17, 2017 (edited) So long, and thanks for all the fish... edit:someone beat me to the punch lol Edited March 17, 2017 by Cryptid_Control 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanityitrust Posted March 17, 2017 #17 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Pre-Migration gathering makes logical sense.. Are they gathering at a primo food source area? Maybe an inter-pod gathering to then split up and form some newer smaller pods... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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