Whales and dolphins play and communicate with each other, study finds
Researchers from Queensland's Griffith University said the "joyful" interactions seen in hundreds of citizen science videos could also play an important role in whale and dolphin conservation.
"These are highly intelligent animals and just like humans, they need creative times, they need times when their brain is in a relaxed mode," said lead author and researcher at Griffith University's whales and climate program, Olaf Meynecke.
With few oceanic animals to interact with, he said the opportunity for whales and dolphins to play could ultimately benefit their development and longevity.
"Play behaviour in the events described in our study may facilitate an individual's ability to cultivate relationships, offer sensory stimulation and contribute to the overall wellbeing," he said.
During the six-month project, Dr Meynecke and colleague Olivia Crawley searched social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for footage of interactions between whales and dolphins over the past 20 years.
Only videos with an identifiable owner and location were included, and duplicate videos were discarded.
The 197 videos from 17 different countries, mostly from the United States and Australia, showed interactions between six types of whales and 13 dolphin species.
As described in the peer-reviewed study published on Tuesday in Discover Animals journal, dolphins were frequently seen engaging with whales in one-sided play, such as riding the bow wave in front of the whale.
But in around one-third of all the interactions, the whale responded positively by rolling from side to side, presenting its belly and moving slowly towards the dolphins.
Dr Meynecke said in one extreme interaction in Hawaii, a whale used its head to slowly lift a dolphin out of the water.
"The theory is that it either might have been the female humpback whale caregiving for this particular dolphin, or it was just really a joyful interaction," he said.
Throughout the nearly 200 pieces of footage, researchers found that the whales and dolphins would often maintain close visual contact, and on eight occasions they touched each other.
"[Touching] only happens between relatives like a mum and a calf," Dr Meynecke said.
The mutual fascination could stem from the close evolutionary relationship between whales and dolphins, both members of the cetacean order of marine mammals.
"I think there is obviously some form of recognition that this is … another living being with similar behaviours, and so maybe that triggers a stronger connection," Dr Meynecke said.
"Of course, we don't know this, but at least from us humans, we do feel a much stronger connection to species that are evolutionarily closer to us."
And just as in play with humans, the joyful interactions between whales and dolphins could serve a serious purpose in their development.
"There could be a deeper reason behind this interaction that actually benefits both the whales and the dolphins for their wellbeing and developing new techniques and connections," Dr Meynecke said.
"It might well play a role in their overall survival."
Wally Franklin is a marine scientist with the Oceania Project and adjunct fellow of the University of the Sunshine Coast, and has been studying humpback whales in Hervey Bay for 30 years.
He was not involved in the Griffith University study, but said he had often seen dolphins and whales interacting in a way that "could be described as playful".
"There's no doubt that the whales respond in a very positive fashion to the presence of the dolphins," he said.
Dr Franklin said the interactions between the whales and dolphins could be heard as well as seen.
"[The Griffith University paper] looks like a very important piece of research which is documenting something that we experience pretty well every day here while we're whale watching in Hervey Bay."
In future research, Dr Meynecke plans to investigate whether whales and dolphins are communicating with each other through the whistles, clicks and groans heard alongside their interactions.
"We are pretty certain that they're able to hear each other, but whether there is actual communication happening that is maybe not possible [to determine]," he said.
"But at least they would talk about each other within [each species]. Just capturing the frequencies being used would be extremely valuable."
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