Weekend wildlife: What's a spyhop anyway?

A gallery of killer whales poking their heads up to check out those crazy monkeys.

Spyhopping

Like breaching, no one’s really sure exactly why orcas spyhop—that is, poke their heads above the surface to survey their surroundings. Obviously, there’s a practical value to being able to observe their world, especially anything happening on land or on nearby boats, where their echolocation functions can’t tell them precisely where everything is, as t…