Movie 1

Aerial view of a fin whale performing a ~90° surface roll while lunge feeding. As the roll is initiated the flippers are adducted and thus obscured by the body. In this position one or both flippers may be used to generate asymmetric lift but their orientation would not be visible by the camera. Video courtesy of Wes Arnold, CineAire Aerial Videography.

Hydrodynamic properties of fin whale flippers predict maximum rolling performance

Paolo S. Segre, David E. Cade, Frank E. Fish, Jean Potvin, Ann N. Allen, John Calambokidis, Ari S. Friedlaender, and Jeremy A. Goldbogen

Journal of Experimental Biology 2016. 219:3315-3320; doi: 10.1242/jeb.137091