What is a spout?
If a humpback whale is coming to the surface to breathe after a dive, it exhales air with a speed of more than 300 m/h. The whales are utilizing about 90% of their lung capacity of 2500 gallons - in comparison with humans, which utilize about 15% when breathing normally! Their lungs are very large and when they exhale they force the warm air through a small sinus opening, forcing the air to cool in nano seconds (like air in a compressed can). This shows up as a tall vapor, which can be as high as 15', bushy to heart shaped for a humpback whale. The exhalation is also called spout, or blow. The inhaled amount of oxygen is "stored" in their blood and to 40% in their muscles which enables the whales to go as deeply as 600 feet or more and stay down up to 55 minutes (recorded in the feeding grounds). The whalers years ago knew that every species of whale had their own signature shape of exhalation and could tell from a distance what type of animal was traveling in the area.
