Fashion Tips From Moby Dick
Since 2007, marine biologists and interested amateurs have been observing a curious behavior of humpback whales called “kelping,” in which the giant cetaceans seem to be playing with seaweed. Now researchers from Griffiths University in Australia have looked into the phenomenon; their study appears in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.
“It's something they do together as a social event or by themselves,” lead author Olaf Meynecke tells Live Science. “They put the seaweed on their head and roll around in it; they try to move it around with their pectoral fins as well.”
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sometimes play with jellyfish, driftwood, fishing gear, or other flotsam, but they have a strong preference for seaweed. “It's very clear from drone footage that the whales are targeting the kelp and sometimes leaving a pod of whales to go straight for the kelp,” Meynecke says.
Seaweed probably feels soft and pleasant against their skin, say the researchers, since humpbacks have very sensitive, innervated hairs around the head and mouth that may be stimulated when they brush against seaweed.
The whales sometimes bite down on seaweed and pull it underwater before letting it go, which may scrub the insides of their mouths. “They're grabbing it with their mouths,” says Meynecke, “which is really interesting, because they're baleen whales that don't have teeth, and for them to bite something is not a natural instinct.”
So what are they up to? The marine biologists can offer only possible explanations for kelping. Maybe it has therapeutic benefits, such as helping the whale shed parasites and bacteria – like a facial or body scrub at a spa. Perhaps playing in patches of seaweed helps teach the young coordination and mobility, or perhaps it's about strengthening social ties in the pod. Or maybe they’re just messing around. Some whales have been observed to wear seaweed “hats” for more than a half hour at a time.
Other whale species, such as sperm and beluga whales, have also been seen cavorting with seaweed. Some kelping behavior caught on video here.
Photo credit: Brian Skerry / Nat Geo Image Collection
