spyhop

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The action of raising the front half of the body out of the sea in a controlled manner.

   • In a more vigorous spyhop, the pectorals are exposed but are rarely brought completely out of the water. On occasion a whale respires during a spyhop.
   • Our cook aboard Varua once had a memorable experience when a curious whale swam under the ship and surfaced next to the galley porthole in a spyhop.
   • A spyhop occurs when a whale remains stationary and upright while raising its head vertically out of the water, before sinking smoothly below the surface without much splash. It is sometimes known as a head rise or eye-out.
2. 2

   To raise the front half of the body out of the sea in a controlled manner.

   • Killer whales sometimes spyhop. To spyhop, they lift the front half of their body out of the water.
   • Many species of cetacean, especially those that frequent coastal waters, ‘spyhop’. They raise their heads slowly out of the water and look around. Spyhopping probably enables them to orient themselves or find the source of a disturbance.
   • This is a very aerially active species, and killer whales often breach, spyhop, flipper-slap and fluke-slap; they often perform these behaviors in bouts.

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