While watching a nature show on PBS (yes, I’m a nerd), I hear the narrator say, “The male humpback whale, while trying to win over the female, will chase off other suitors by threatening them with...”

– wait for it –

“bubbles.”

Does this work for other species? If you were in competition for a promotion, could you scare off your rival with bubbles? Would there need to be actual bubbles or would the mere threat of bubbles be sufficient? Would the dime store bottle of bubble solution work or would you need the great big bubble wands like clowns have at amusement parks? Would the bubbles actually have to strike the rival or do you just need to get them in his general vicinity?

Or perhaps a more probing question: What happened in the humpback whale’s childhood to make him fearful of the bubbles?