Mesmerizing Video Shows Whales Wearing Seaweed Hats

Researchers have shared mesmerizing footage of humpback whales from around the world playing with seaweed and wearing it on their heads.

Before this study, published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, only a few isolated reports of this behavior in whales had been made. But now researchers from Griffith University in Australia's Gold Coast region have revealed that this behavior may be more consistent and widespread than once thought.

"So far, this has only been documented for marine mammals and, in the form we describe it, only for four baleen whale species," the study's co-author, Jan-Olaf Meynecke, told Newsweek.

He continued: "Only humpback whales, southern, northern right whales and gray whales have displayed the use of kelp and seaweed by placing it on their head and other body parts for a prolonged amount of time, 30 to 40 minutes in some cases."

Using their own aerial observations, as well as photographs and videos from social media, Meynecke and co-author Hilla Kela documented over 100 separate and unrelated incidences of this behavior, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

"I did not expect the amount of documentation that we found," Meynecke said. "Searching through social media and finding hundreds of posts from whales interacting with seaweed was astonishing. This tells me that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The behavior is likely to occur more frequently and is not just a random occurrence."

Exactly why the whales exhibit this behavior is still unclear. They may simply be playing with the natural toys that the ocean has to offer. But wearing kelp hats may provide other benefits too.

"We think there are a number of benefits contributing to the well-being of whales," Meynecke said. "By placing the kelp on [their] head, it stimulates the fine hairs. It helps with training mobility and possibly the removal of small parasites such as sea lice as well as reduction of skin bacteria because of the antibacterial properties of kelp."

In other words, the whales may be using the kelp as a sort of antimicrobial exfoliator.

"I'd like to find out if there is a possible effect of seaweed on whale skin bacteria and also like to investigate if the behavior really is just limited to regions where kelp occurs or is something that occurs in the tropics as well," Meynecke said. "There might also be preferences for different seaweed species."

He continued, "Our studies show that there is still so much more we can learn from and about whales. Even a much-studied species like humpback whales still surprises us."