Incredible footage reveals surprising relationship between whales and dolphins
Every year, as whales migrate up and down Australia's coastlines, some spectators are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a pod of dolphins tagging along during the journey.
While many have long pondered the nature of their relationship, new research has revealed that baleen whales and dolphins play with each other more often than previously believed.
Researchers at Griffith University recently spent hours analysing 199 videos and photos of the mammals interacting around the world. The clips, which were posted online by members of the public, citizen scientists and whale-watching groups, show dolphins breaching the surface, bow riding, performing belly rolls, and in some instances even purposely touching a whale.
While a few whales appeared to be irritated by their smaller neighbours, likely when feeding, a quarter of the encounters — especially involving humpbacks — have been described as 'positive' interactions.
'The humpback whales were rolling from side to side, undertaking belly presentation and other behaviour categories that are associated with courtship behaviour or friendly socialising,' the study, published by Discover Animals, states.
Speaking to Yahoo News, lead researcher Dr Olaf Meynecke explained the footage and photos revealed that 'these interactions are common across different populations and species' and appear to be beneficial, especially for the dolphins.
'In other words, the interactions likely help the species to relax, play and be creative,' he said. 'Just like humans need times when we don't engage in purpose-driven activity.'
Dolphins appear to initiate contact with whales
The most common interaction involved dolphins swimming near the whale's rostrum — the snout or front part of the head, Dr Olaf Meynecke said.
They were even seen tilting their head to the side from time to time in an attempt to establish eye contact with their large friends. Generally, dolphins seem to instigate the contact and appear to swim towards the whales first and then establish contact.
'If the situation is right and the whales are in the mood, they will show positive behaviour toward the dolphins [like] belly presentations [and] rolling,' Dr Olaf Meynecke told Yahoo. It is also plausible that whales hear the dolphins and seek them out, he added.
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Social media videos and photos an 'invaluable' tool
The majority of the baleen whales studied in the videos and photos, which spanned back two decades, were humpbacks, 'simply because they are more surface active and migrate closer to shore, so more people see them,' Dr Olaf Meynecke explained.
'For blue and fin whales, we only had a limited number of materials to look at. They showed the least response. Often neutral,' he said.
While social media posts cannot replace dedicated research projects, the clips were an 'invaluable' tool in this research due to the 'limited knowledge about the complexity of whale and dolphin culture', the study states.
'Because of the short duration and unpredictable occurrence of whale and dolphin interactions, it is almost impossible to set up dedicated research trips to just look and investigate these interactions,' Dr Olaf Meynecke told Yahoo.
'Videos in particular from drones from members of the public have allowed us to view these interactions from different places and for different species.'
'Fabulous' sight in shallow Aussie bay captured on drone video
In late June, Yahoo published stunning drone footage of at least four very vocal dolphins greeting and playing with a humpback as it rolled around in the water near Bunbury, south of Perth. At the time, staff at the Dolphin Discovery Centre feared the young humpback whale had gotten 'a bit lost' and wandered into a shallow bay popular with tourists.
However, their concerns eased when they saw that it simply appeared to be having a ball with some new mates.
After reviewing the 'fabulous' footage, Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist in the Marine Predator Research Group at Macquarie University, told Yahoo the species are sometimes seen swimming together during the winter migration.
'Most of the time this is fleeting, but sometimes, like this footage, you get cracker interactions like this. The whale is rolling around, [and] they appear to be looking at each other,' she said.
'Whales use low-frequency sounds, while dolphins make high-frequency sounds, so I would assume these dolphins may have been buzzing around this whale. All in all, it looks like a very playful and innocent interaction between these two species.'
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