Stunning Video Of 40-Ton Humpback Whale Jumping Out Of The Water

An adult humpback whale can grow to weigh up to 36,000 kg. That is about the same weight as 24 adult hippos! This acknowledged, it is pretty incredible that the mammal is even capable of leaping out of the water. Still, in 2017, this feat was captured on film.

The video was captured by Craig Capehart, a scuba diver that was sitting in a “rubber duck” inflatable boat when he spotted the extraordinary act. Capeheart was in the Indian Ocean off Mbotyi's coast when the graceful giant appeared. The scuba diver estimates the humpback whale weighed about forty tons.

“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,” Craig wrote in the video's caption. “Dolphins and even Great White Sharks have been seen flying out of the water, but this is a first for an adult humpback whale!”

According to the BBC, it is still not fully understood why whales jump out of the water. However, scientists theorize that whales, like the humpback whale in the video above, breach, then slap the water, to communicate. The following video offers a more in-depth explanation:

Reference: Truth Theory