spyhop

plural spyhops · alternative spy hop · alternative spy-hop

1. The action of raising the front half of the body out of the sea in a controlled manner.

   Our cook aboard Varua once had a memorable experience when a curious whale swam under the ship and surfaced next to the galley porthole in a spyhop.

   1989, Cynthia D'Vincent, Voyaging with the Whales, McClelland & Stewart, page 116

   2 more examples

   In a more vigorous spyhop, the pectorals are exposed but are rarely brought completely out of the water. On occasion a whale respires during a spyhop.

   1986, Barbara C. Kirkevold, Joan S. Lockard, Behavioral Biology of Killer Whales, A.R. Liss, page 153

   A spyhop occurs when a whale remains stationary and upright while raising its head vertically out of the water, before sinking smoothly below the surface without much splash. It is sometimes known as a head rise or eye-out.

   2016, Mark Carwardine, Mark Carwardine's Guide to Whale Watching in Britain and Europe, 2nd edition, Bloomsbury

   Synonyms: eye-out, head rise

present singular third person spyhops · participle present spyhopping · participle past spyhopped · past spyhopped · alternative spy hop · alternative spy-hop

1. intransitiveTo raise the front half of the body out of the sea in a controlled manner.

   Killer whales sometimes spyhop. To spyhop, they lift the front half of their body out of the water.

   2002, Anne Welsbacher, Killer Whales, Capstone High-Interest Books, page 14

   2 more examples

   Many species of cetacean, especially those that frequent coastal waters, ‘spyhop’. They raise their heads slowly out of the water and look around. Spyhopping probably enables them to orient themselves or find the source of a disturbance.

   2006, Trevor Day, Whalewatcher, Marshall Editions, page 21

   This is a very aerially active species, and killer whales often breach, spyhop, flipper-slap and fluke-slap; they often perform these behaviors in bouts.

   2008, Thomas A. Jefferson, Marc A. Webber, Robert L. Pitman, Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification, Elsevier, page 162