This is a short glossary of terms relating to whales and whale behavior.
The following definitions come from a variety of sources, and some have been expanded or adapted by the Pacifica Whales team. Many definitions came from the International Whaling Commission's Glossary
of Whale Watching Language.
Baleen - The bristle-like plates that hang from a whale’s upper jaw bone and are used to filter prey (usually small schooling fish or shrimp-like crustaceans) from the water. Baleen whales include all of the large whales except killer whales and sperm whales, that have teeth more like those of dolphins.
Barnacle - See Whale Barnacles below.
Blowhole - the modified nostril located on the top of a whale or dolphins head. During dives the blowhole is sealed by a nasal plug which is retracted by fast-acting muscles upon surfacing for breathing. Baleen whales have two openings in their blowhole, while toothed whales have only one.
Breaching - A leap out of the water, exposing the majority of a whale or dolphin’s body. This term is often mistakenly used to describe Lunge Feeding. Lunge Feeding is much less energetic and usually only involves part of the head coming out of the water.
Bubble Netting - Process in which whales either singly or cooperatively blow a circle of bubbles from under water in order to create a wall or curtain of bubbles that traps small schooling fish and makes them easier to capture in a single lunging gulp through the centre of the bubble curtain.
Calf - A young whale or dolphin, usually referring only to those born in the past year.
Cetacean - Whale, dolphin or porpoise; from the Latin word Cetus; marine mammal that lives entirely in the ocean.
Dorsal Fin - The fin along the midline of the back of most whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Footprint - A large, flat circle of water created by water being pushed to the surface by the whale's tail. This can be used to help track the movements of the whales while they are underwater.
Flukes - The flat horizontal lobes that form the tail of all whale and dolphin species. Whale Tail and Flukes are often used interchangeably.
Fluking - When a whale or dolphin begins a deep dive, it lifts its tail into the air to help it thrust its body into a more steeply angled descent to deeper waters.
Juvenile - An immature whale or dolphin of either sex – usually smaller in size than a fully mature adult – but larger than a calf born in the past year.
Lice - See Whale Lice/Louse below.
Lobtailing - Forcefully slapping the flukes against the surface of the water. Often also referred to as Tail Slapping.
Logging - When cetaceans are resting at the surface they look like floating logs. They generally stay still or swim very slowly. In social species (e.g. pilot whales, sperm whales), the individuals generally log very close to each other and face the same direction. This behavior, plus the similar behavior of just swimming around showing their backs is often referred to as Frustrating,
Boring and Yet Another Back Shot.
Lunge Feeding - Usually performed by baleen whales, who lunge with open mouths through dense concentrations of fish or crustaceans to feed. Often people use the term Breaching when the behavior is actually Lunge Feeding. Breaching is much more energetic and involves the majority of the whale coming out of the water.
Pec-slapping - Raising a flipper out of the water and slapping it noisily against the water's surface.
Pectoral Fins - Although often referred to as fins – these are actually modified limbs with bone structures much like human’s arms and hands. They are used for stability and steering, and are more appropriately called flippers.
Peduncle-slapping/peduncle throw - Also known as tail-breaching, throwing the rear portion of the body out of the water and slapping it sideways onto the surface, or on top of another whale.
Pleats/Ventral Pleats - Folds along throat and under the mouth of baleen whales that expand as they gulp in food and water prior to filtering or straining.
Pod - A group of usually related whales or dolphins of the same species that tend to travel together; in transient killer whales, the term "group" is used in preference to "pod" because groups are not necessarily made up of related animals.
Rostrum - The "snout" or "beak" of a dolphin or whale.
Sharking - Sharking is a behavior exhibited by Gray Whales. They swim on their side with a pectoral fin and sometimes also the fluke sticking out of the water. This can look like a shark fin moving through the water, hence the name.
Spouting/Blowing - When a cetacean comes to the surface to breathe, it releases a lot of air, called its spout (or blow), when it exhales. The breath is made of warm air and water droplets. The spout of different types of cetaceans looks quite different. Experienced observers can identify a species of cetaceans from the appearance of the spout on the horizon. Generally the larger the cetacean, the higher the spout (e.g. the spout of a 30m blue whale can be up to 12m high, whereas the spout of a 10m minke whale will only be up to 2m high). Also, the spout shape varies from one species to another: they can be bushy (e.g. minke whale), straight and thin (e.g. fin whale), or conical (e.g. sei whale). One whale who has a unique and easily recognizable spout is the sperm whale. While all cetaceans have their blow hole situated on top and in the middle of their head, the sperm whale has his at the front and always on the left side of its head. Thus, instead of being perpendicular to the water surface, the spout of the sperm whale forms a 45° angle with it. It is also particularly useful for whale watchers and researchers as it indicates in which direction the whale is swimming.
Spyhop - A behaviour where a whale or dolphin raises its head vertically above the water, then slips back below the surface. This behavior allows the whale to look around and see what is happening above the water surface. Cetaceans have an excellent vision in the water as well as out of the water. This is sometimes confused with Lunge Feeding or Breaching.
Spyhopping is very similar to Lunge Feeding but the Ventral Pleats will not be expanded/filled with water. When dolphins and whales are close to a boat they might spyhop out of curiosity, just to check us out (yes they enjoy “human watching” just like we enjoy “whale watching”). But this behavior actually evolved for a good reason. In some migrating species like the grey whale, spyhopping close to shore allows the whale to recognize some particular landmarks so it knows which direction to take. Another famous example is orcas spyhopping around the sea ice in search of a potential prey (e.g. seal) resting or hiding on an ice flow.
Suction Feeding - A method of feeding used by some whales and dolphins, by which they use their throat muscles and tongue in a piston-like action to suck prey into their mouths.
Whale - This term is used to refer to any large cetacean, but technically scientists distinguish between toothed cetaceans (odontocetes) and those with baleen plates instead of teeth (mysticetes). Killer whales and sperm whales are odontocetes, while blue whales and humpback whales are mysticetes.
Whale Lice/Louse - A whale louse is a crustacean of the family Cyamidae. Despite the name, it is not a true louse (which are insects), but rather is related to the skeleton shrimp. Padraig Duigman, a marine mammal pathologist, said: "cyamids are not detrimental to whales and therefore not parasitic. Their relationship is at worst commensal (beneficial to the cyamids but no harm to whales) or symbiotic where both benefit. Which they do. The cyamids have a place to live and source of food. The food is sloughing epidermis and necrotic tissue in wounds and the debridement of that benefits the whale as it speeds healing and removes a substrate for bacteria and fungi that could harm the whale. Cyamids are not lice and not related to the lice of terrestrial mammals or birds."
Whale Barnacles - Barnacles are often found on whales. Coronula Diadema (whale barnacles) attach directly to the whale. Often you also find Conchoderma Auritum (rabbit ear barnacles) attached to the whale barnacles. Regarding whether they harm the whales, David Lester responded: "The relationship between barnacles and whales is generally considered to be commensalism, a type of symbiosis where only one species benefits, and the other is not affected. In the case of barnacles and whales, the barnacles benefit from the relationship, but the whales are not harmed."