Misryoum reports a new study reviews sightings of humpback whales opening their mouths outside feeding, raising unanswered questions.
A humpback whale holding its mouth wide open outside of feeding is an image that can look baffling in the moment—and new research is trying to make sense of it.
The behavior. often described as “gaping. ” involves humpback whales leaving their jaws open even when there’s no obvious food event happening.. In this context. the key question for researchers is why the animals would perform a posture typically associated with feeding. when nothing seems to be on the menu.
Misryoum’s analysis draws on decades of human observation now amplified by modern viewing tools. Researchers reviewed dozens of video and photo sightings collected from boats, drones, and underwater perspectives, including reports shared publicly over a multi-year window.
To keep the phenomenon consistent. the team defined gaping as opening the mouth outside a feeding event. while also noting differences in how wide the gape was and how long it lasted.. That matters because rare or intermittent behaviors can be easy to dismiss as misidentification unless they’re described in a measurable way.
One promising takeaway is that the evidence base came from many kinds of observers, including tourism operators and citizen scientists.. Misryoum notes that. when paired with increasingly high-quality recording technology. these contributions can help surface unusual behaviors that might otherwise remain anecdotal.
Meanwhile, researchers stress that the study still does not pinpoint a single cause.. Instead. the work lays out possible explanations ranging from social behavior and interactions such as cleaning. to responses involving the jaw itself or simply stretching.. The fact that multiple hypotheses are still on the table suggests gaping could have more than one function.
From an ecological standpoint, behaviors like this also challenge simple assumptions about animal routines.. Misryoum’s findings underscore that even well-studied species can display actions that look familiar on the surface but may have different triggers—or serve different purposes—depending on the moment.