A new study shows that whales live and learn in their own unique animal culture

[n2doc]

A sperm whale’s “click” is the loudest sound produced by any animal—and it has an identifying dialect. In fact, according to a study published in Nature Communications, the whales aren’t born with different vocal chords or a bit of the sea particularly suited to a certain kind of click. They simply acquire their dialects from one another in the same way you or I might have taken on our parents’ accent—by copying what they hear.

Sperm whales aren’t the only animals who learn like this. I have spent time with bottlenose dolphins, for instance, in many different locations around the world. One thing that has always struck me is that while these dolphins tend to do the same thing—such as hunt, fish or play together—the way they do this can differ quite drastically between populations.

In the late 1990s, Andy Whiten best articulated this “feeling” that field biologists have had for a long time in his study of chimpanzees, the first systematic look at behavioral differences between populations.

Whiten and colleagues showed different groups of chimps did the same thing in drastically different ways, for example the way they used tools to catch ants. These differences spanned the whole activity repertoire of chimpanzees and the authors posited that the best way to explain this variation was simple: chimpanzees have culture.

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http://qz.com/498678/new-study-shows-that-whales-live-and-learn-in-their-own-unique-animal-culture/

[Judi Lynn]

1. That is the most enchanting photo of whales I have ever seen. Thank you.

Also, amazed to learn about dolphins and their use of sponges to protect their noses while hunting for food!

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[DirkGently]

2. Dolphins have names.

Unique signature vocalizations that identify them.

Orcas also have culture and learn unique hunting styles and techniques that vary with where they live.

At some point Homo sapiens may have to admit our main distinguishing characteristic is just that we are the pushiest species on Earth.

And we have cable television. But that might not be one to brag about.