Media

Journalist Celebrates ‘Queer Sea’ After Photographers Capture Gay Whale Rape

HUMPBACK WHALE IN BRAZIL

Image not from story. (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)

Alexander Pease Contributor
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Following the release of what is believed to be the first underwater images capturing a male humpback whale in Hawaiian waters having sex another male humpback, one journalist suggested such homosexual behavior could be common.

In light of the new footage, English author Philip Hoare wrote a piece titled “Gay, lesbian and intersex whales: our queer sea has much to teach us,” published Friday in The Guardian. Hoare suggested humpback whales exhibit both gay and lesbian behaviors, citing the new photographs as evidence.

“[T]he idea of lesbian whales should not be surprising.”

The new images indicate male humpback whales have homosexual tendencies, so it makes sense that the same is true for the females of the species, marine biologist Dr. Conor Ryan told the outlet. (RELATED: Watchdog To Open Probe Into Offshore Wind Projects As Whale Deaths Pile Up)

While male-on-male intercourse between two massive animals is eye-catching in the field, the animalistic act of “cuddling” between two female whales is easier to miss and often overlooked, Ryan argued.

“Indeed, the graphic accounts of male-to-male behaviour may mask many ‘unseen’ female-to-female sexual interactions,” Hoare added.

Dr. Ryan claimed to have witnessed such same-sex behaviors in both dolphins and whales first-hand while conducting research, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Never-Before-Seen Footage Shows Dolphin Gang Pulling Off An Aquatic Heist)

The scientist went as far to broach the idea of a “non-binary” beaked whale into the conversation, “which was discovered to have both male and female genitalia,” according to the outlet.

Sexuality under the sea isn’t so cut and dry, the Guardian piece concluded.

“The sea itself seems to be a queer place, where gender is at best a slippery notion at times,” Hoare wrote.