Marine mammals such as dolphins and fish each have a frequency unique to each species, as well as each organism, in a pod.(Baker, 2013) Scientists have called these “signature whistles” Elsevier, 1989). Organisms use these whistles similar to how we use names, associating the frequency to specific individuals in the pod. Whales have a frequency between 40-80 kilohertz while dolphins at about 3-23 kilohertz. Due to the sound differences, organisms are able to distinguish between organisms of different species and individuals in their pods, or neighboring pods. If individuals of a species are capable of individualising their “signature whistles” are they able to then use those signature whistles to develop ways of hunting fish using each of the individuals in the pod? Scientists have been studying this behavior since the 1960’s, and have just recently discovered a whale who’s whistle sounds like a duck call (Kahn, 2014).
In Between all matters of life, communication between organisms of like species has been an important part of survival, for so long, and so perfect, that whales have not substantially evolved for about 33 billion years (Uhen, Mark). For example, dolphins hunt using a technique called ‘herding’,as well as many other techniques, which involves members of a pod circling a group of fish and through a series of yips, chirps, whistles, communicate to each other as they in circle their prey into a tightly packed group, allowing one dolphin at a time to swim through the group of fish while the other members of the pod incircle the fish. It is more efficient for groups of a like species to hunt together than one at a time (Bone, 2014). The herd will continue to do this until all have fed, or until the resourc...
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...en information. With the use of echolocation, whales and dolphins can communicate between individuals, hunt, navigate, and visualize their surroundings even though they can’t always see it. An organisms ability to adapt and survive and environment is known as fitness, and has been perfected by whales in such a way that they haven’t significantly evolved for about 33 million years. Scientists have been using this extraordinary sense of communication, and depiction to identify in humans, specifically blind humans, the ability to use this advanced method of environmental depiction, and how they have used it to not only see their surroundings, detect movements in surroundings, and use this skill not only to navigate by walking, but even use this to depict what their entire environment looks like, what it contains, and what materials are present in the environment.
Keeping these huge animals in small pools does not seem right. Big mammals are not meant to be in small pools. When these mammals are born they stay with there mother all of their lives. They never leave their mothers until they are captured and put in small pools which is not right. Killer whales hunt in pods, the oldest female in the pod is usually the group leader. Each pod has its own set of whistles, clicks, and calls that only members of the pod recognize similar to having a unique language. Members of many pods hunt in teams. For example, they may work together to create waves to knock a seal from an ice floe and into the open water. In many pods,...
2. Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Greenwillow, 2001. The Ohio Digital Library. Overdrive. Web. 13 Jan. 14. .
J. G. M. Thewissen and his colleagues changed the way in which scientists thought about the early lifestyles of whales. The evolution of the ancient artiodactyls was discovered to be joined with the well-known group of cetaceans. The tertiary period was a time of terrestrial life forms. Every mammal walked the earth. It wasn’t uncommon to see a whale running through the grasslands or shark sleeping on the coast of a land mass. It was a time when mammals roamed freely and unconfined by the limits of the ocean. Now that scientists have this newly found knowledge, it is time the scientists further investigate “why?”
“… building a tank the size of Rhode Island wouldn’t be large enough for a six-ton male killer whale such as Tilikum, an animal capable of swimming 100 miles a day,” states an anonymous whale expert. Whales have been in captivity since 1861 when P.T. Barnum displayed the first live whale that was captured in Canada. However, Barnum had no idea how to care for the mammal and it died after only a week in captivity. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Being up close with killer whales could give us some clues about how they interact with each other, including physical behavior, their dialect, and how their pods work together as a family unit. However, what we are finding is that whales who belong in the wild are suffering in captivity. Killer whales have no record of ever harming a human being in the wild. In captivity, there have been many incidents of killer whales harming or even killing their trainers. What would cause them to do this in captivity, but not in the wild? They have been known to resort to aggression toward themselves and each other, in what scientist believe to be a stress induced behavior. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Evidence against having these wild animals in captivity is increasing and we need reevaluate the value of capturing and holding killer whales for our educational purposes, enjoyment, and profit.
In Herman Melville’s world-renowned tale, Moby Dick, the crew aboard the Pequod sail the seas in order to hunt, capture, and kill a mysteriously terrifying sperm whale named “Moby Dick”. For centuries, humans have used technological advances to protect their elite status in the animal kingdom, at the unfortunate expense of species ignorantly perceived as being too weak or unintelligent to fight back. Moby Dick illuminates one of the most historically cruel instances of selfishly-oriented, industrial engineering: whaling and hunting animals for sport. Humans and animals are the only living creatures with a similar state of consciousness and this cognitive interconnectedness binds the two species together in ways that can only be speculated and
Vision plays a huge role in the lives of non-human primates. Non-human primates have exceptional binocular vision, due to forward-facing eyes with overlapping visual fields (Prescott). This binocular stereoscopic color vision allows primates to see the world in terms of height, width, and depth, also known as three-dimensional vision (Haviland et al. 2010). Highly developed vision allows the later arboreal primates to judge depth, distance, and location when moving at speed from branch to branch (Haviland et al. 2010). This bino...
Killer whales communicate by a series of clicks and whistles called vocalization. Each pod, or family, has their own unique language. This gives whales the ability to identify their own pods. Orcas have a brain that is about five ti...
scientists need even small indicators, such as the dorsal fin, which help identify specific whales.
The orca whale is a highly social animal. Orcas form groups that are called pods which are anywhere from two to fifteen members. The young of the group are very protected by the mothers and never leave the pod unless to find a mate. Unfortunately companies like Seaworld are paying people called “Hunters” to trap the young orcas at the age of two.
Adaptation to unpredictable conditions is a key force in driving human evolution. The ability to overcome predicaments with poise is one of the greatest assets humans possess. In “The Mind’s Eye”, Oliver Sacks recounts various perspectives of individuals coping with blindness. Each individual took a different path to becoming accustomed to their blindness and each of the case studies showed compensatory mechanism unique to the individual. Throughout the article, Sacks credits each person for playing to their assets because he views adaptability as a person’s capacity to alter their mode of thought in order to fit their circumstance. Although Sacks shows many examples of neuronal plasticity as an adaptation to blindness, he eludes to the impact
The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.
Many whales avoid breeding grounds and feeding areas in relation to several different species of whales being beached have had some kind of trauma beforehand. Scientists are starting to research and discover that most of them were bleeding around the brain and ears. Due to all of the naval ships in the area, people began to question if they had any part of the beaching. “Most previous attempts to determine whether military sonar use and whale strandings are correlated have looked at mass stranding records of beaked whales an...
Few studies have been conducted on the courtship behaviors of Beluga whales. Courtship is defined as whales creating a relationship and is seen through many different behaviors. Such behaviors include posturing, when a beluga turns on its side to present the ventral side to the beluga of interest (Dipaola, Akai, & Kraus, 2007). Behaviors are used as a means of close range communication (Pryor, 1990; Tyack, 2000; Wursig, Kieckhefer & Jefferson, 1990). The purpose of courting is to engage in sexual activity with a beluga of choice. Another courtship behavior is rubbing, wherein belugas make contact through body rubs, many of which occur using the pectoral fin; this is sometimes called taking a rub (Samuels et al., 1989 as cited in Glabicky, DuBrava, & Noonan (2010)).
This has been a tradition of the Makah Indians for more than 2000 years. They had to stop in 1926 due to the scarcity of gray whales. But their abundance now makes it possible to resume their ancient practice of the hunt.
Shirihai, H. and B. Jarrett (2006). Whales, Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton, Princeton University Press. p.185-188.