Humpback Whales Sometimes Hold Their Mouths Open for No Clear Reason. Tourists Are Helping Scientists Understand the Rare Behavior
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Researchers are studying the behavior of humpback whales that occasionally open their mouths wide without clear reasons. By analyzing social media posts from tourists, they have gathered insights into this rare behavior, known as 'gaping.' Possible explanations include communication, jaw stretching, and play, highlighting the value of citizen science in marine research.
- ▪Humpback whales sometimes engage in a behavior called 'gaping' without apparent reasons.
- ▪Researchers collected observations of this behavior from social media, yielding 66 instances globally.
- ▪Possible reasons for gaping include communication, stretching, and play, often occurring in social contexts.
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Humpback Whales Sometimes Hold Their Mouths Open for No Clear Reason. Tourists Are Helping Scientists Understand the Rare Behavior A trove of photos and videos gathered from social media has helped researchers propose a few possible reasons for the seldom documented action, called “gaping,” including communication, jaw stretching and play Margherita Bassi | Daily Correspondent May 18, 2026 10:00 a.m. ShareCopy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrintAdd as preferred source Researchers don't know what drives whale gaping in humpback whales, but the observations posted to social media can help them identify context clues. Hannah Pittore Humpback whales sometimes hang out with their mouths wide open for no apparent reason.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Smithsonian Magazine.
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