Jingszo !

We found that humpback whales use rings in non–mutually exclusive contexts including feeding (within bubble nets), during inquisitive behavior, and while passively resting.

Most episodes showed evidence of inquisitive behavior with a notable lack of other behaviors indicative of feeding or agonism/aggression. Although there was little evidence of feeding during bubble ring production, this may be limited by the majority of collected sightings occurring on breeding grounds where feeding is scarce.

Additionally, there was no evidence of agonism or aggression in any of the bubble production episodes.