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Not that scientists can establish. Humpback whales have been observed making bubble rings near boats and swimmers, often while behaving inquisitively. But the observations do not show that the rings mean “hello” or that whales are deliberately sending people a message. Their purpose remains uncertain.
What did researchers observe?
A 2025 observational study by Fred Sharpe, Jodi Frediani, and coauthors compiled 12 episodes of humpback whale bubble-ring production. The episodes involved 39 rings made by 11 individual whales. They came from opportunistic reports, photographs, and video—not an experiment designed to test whether whales greet people.
Ten of the 12 episodes occurred near boats or swimmers. Researchers classified nine episodes as inquisitive, two as feeding, and one as resting. In each of the nine inquisitive episodes, a boat or swimmer was the nearest object when the whale released a ring; in eight, the whale approached the people or vessel. The team described most whales as relaxed and minimally aroused, with no aggression observed in the recorded episodes. These circumstances make curiosity a reasonable interpretation, but “inquisitive” describes the surrounding behavior, not a measured intention.
The authors also consulted three investigators who watched whales using drones away from nearby vessels. Those investigators reported no bubble rings across nearly 5,000 drone flights. That contrast may prompt questions about whether rings are more likely around human observers, but it cannot show that people cause the behavior: the observations were not a controlled comparison, and some rings might have been missed or gone unrecognized.
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How is a bubble ring different from a bubble net?
| Feature | Bubble ring | Bubble net |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A ring-shaped, air-infused vortex that spins around its circumference (poloidally), as described in the 2025 study. | A larger underwater structure created by expelling air to corral prey, described in instrumented research on humpback feeding (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024208). |
| Observed context | In the 2025 study, rings appeared in inquisitive, feeding, and resting episodes. | Associated with feeding; researchers have documented whales’ underwater paths and patterns of bubble release while making nets (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024208). |
| What the evidence says about function | The function is unresolved; the observations do not establish that rings are greetings. | A feeding structure used to corral prey. |
The researchers recorded two ring-making episodes during active bubble-net feeding, but did not observe whales feeding within the individual rings. A ring and a net are therefore not interchangeable names for the same structure, and not every underwater bubble formation is a ring.
What can—and can’t—we conclude about a greeting?
The documented cases show that some humpbacks make rings while near people, and that many reported episodes occurred in behavior the researchers classified as inquisitive. That is an association, not proof that a whale intends to greet a person, communicate with humans, or play. Nor does the absence of observed aggression in these episodes establish that rings always occur in peaceful situations.
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The dataset is small and opportunistic, so its counts are not estimates of how often humpbacks make rings across populations. The study authors call for systematic observation to establish the conditions in which rings are consistently produced. A separate study of five captive belugas suggested bubble blowing could be solitary play while also describing its function as poorly understood; that finding does not establish what humpback rings mean (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-010-0341-8).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.So, are they saying hello?
It is an appealing possibility, but it has not been demonstrated. The most careful answer is that bubble rings have been observed alongside inquisitive behavior near people, while the whales’ purpose remains an open question.
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