Australia’s humpback whales were acting weird. What happened next surprised scientists.

In 2009, tourism operators in Australia spotted more and more humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) “fluking,” when a whale floats upside down, holding its tail above the water. Confused by the behavior, they reached out to scientists for help, triggering a research effort that solved one of the biggest mysteries about humpback whales on the Great Barrier Reef. The Whitsundays, where the fluking was taking place, is a region with dozens of islands between the Great Barrier Re