Eli5: How do whales or other heavy marine animals jump out of water?

Question

Eli5: How do whales or other heavy marine animals jump out of water?

In: 19

Answer 1

Buoyancy. Think about the difference from when you jump on land vs jumping when in the pool. When you’re in a pool you pretty much go from the bottom or the pool to the top without much effort. Don’t even need to jump or swim to go to the top. So its fairly easy for marine life to travel full speed upwards which gives them enough momentum to jump really high.