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#Whaling out! Don't break your back trying this new trend

There's a new social media trend on the scene, and it may require some thorough stretching before attempting.Allow us to introduce #whaling: a hashtag popping up all over Vine, as users of the social network share short videos of themselves showing off their body-bending skills.Seemingly inspired by whales in the wild, the 6-second videos show people hurling themselves backwards as if they are bre
A Vine user "whaling" in the grocery store.
A Vine user \"whaling\" in the grocery store.StarsCHI_nHutch / Vine

There's a new social media trend on the scene, and it may require some thorough stretching before attempting.

Allow us to introduce #whaling: a hashtag popping up all over Vine, as users of the social network share short videos of themselves showing off their body-bending skills.

Seemingly inspired by whales in the wild, the 6-second videos show people hurling themselves backwards as if they are breaching — like a whale would in the ocean.

As Vine defines it, whaling is "to dive backwards with one's body in a public or unusual place, like a whale breaching the surface of the ocean."

And unusual places is right. Users are seen whaling in elevators, grocery stores, fast food restaurants and even in crowds of people in what looks like an energetic version of the "wave."

While pinpointing how exactly the trend got started is difficult, it seems that whaling videos are becoming as vast as the ocean blue.