Dear Fellow MARMAMers, with this we would like to let you know about the observation of a rare beaked whale behaviour which was also captured on film: off the Canary Islands, a group of animals was leaping with individual whales performing high jumps and breaches several times in a row – a behavior rarely ever seen - and difficult to explain. We have observed leaping beaked whales off La Gomera on a few occasions, but never with such intensity like can be seen on the video images available through: http://m-e-e-r.de/index.php?id=563&L=2 Even with photographic images taken during the short encounter it was not possibly to identify the animals to the species level. It may have been Blainville’s beaked whales, a species commonly seen in the Canary Islands. But Gervais' or True beaked whales are possible candidates, too. Beaked whales are known to be shy and generally behave in an inconspicuous manner. They usually avoid ships, are sensitive to disturbance and spend most of their time below the surface. The reasons for their aerial behaviour remain unclear. On the one hand you can speculate that the animals were returning to the surface after a long dive at high speed, but this would not explain why some individuals appear to perform repeated leaps. On the other hand, beaked whales are known to be highly sensitive to noise disturbance. The footage was taken from a large fast ferry. The underwater sound of the ship, or from a different yet unknown noise source could have irritated them, too. We are curious to learn from you what you think about this behaviour. Best regards, Fabian -- Fabian Ritter -President- M.E.E.R. e.V. Bundesallee 123 D-12161 Berlin T/F: (0)30-644 97 230 e-Mail: ritter@m-e-e-r.de www.m-e-e-r.org --- The dolphins were having a great relaxed time and there were no major answers they wished to know the questions to... (After Douglas Adams) ___ M.E.E.R. ist eingetragen im Vereinsregister Berlin. Steuer-Nr. (German tax ID): 27/672/54225 M.E.E.R. is a registered charity.