Scientists gathered 105 instances of baleen whales performing a strange behavior called kelping. This could be to help the whales exfoliate, or for them to entertain themselves, researchers said. The group gathered over a hundred videos and photos from social media of whales "kelping", which led them to realize that this behavior isn't isolated to one group of baleen whales. AdvertisementAdvertisementBecause this behavior turned out to be so widespread, the researchers began to speculate why the whales were doing it. But it's also possible, the researchers wrote, that the whales are using the kelp to exfoliate their skin, removing parasites and bacteria.

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Persons: —, it's, Olaf Meynecke Organizations: Service, Marine Science, Engineering, Marine Research, Facebook, Flickr Locations: Queensland, Australia, Australia's