Call it what you will, but the usual name for this breathy steam cloud is a blow. For me the term is poorly sounded. It doesn't readily lend itself to re-imagining the associated wild and deeply resonant tones heard in a whale breath. Although it appears to be a long way from the latin word spiritus, to the English equivalent, breath; this steam cloud is likely the clearest bridge to whale spirit that most will readily see.
 
I'm not sure where or exactly what it was in Eva Salutis's book on the Orcas of Prince William Sound, but in its reading I was clearly reminded of this image. What it is like to be there, held open in its spaciousness, waiting for whales to surface and deeply, sonorously breathe.