The whales now hunt by blowing bubbles underwater or slapping their tail on the surface of the water, creating bubble nets and effectively trapping the prey. This is called 'lobtail feeding'. In the past 30 years, nearly 40% of the population has learned about this neat trick. It has also been proven that whales can teach other their 'songs'.
These observations about whales sharing and teaching information within the community lead scientists to believe that whales and dolphins have evolved sophisticated cultural capabilities.
Website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425142353.htm
Themes of Nature of Science:
1. Science is based on evidence
2. Role of motivation and curiosity
Hmmm... that's very intriguing how humpback whales have adapted to a new way of obtaining food and how they are able to pass on their songs.
ReplyDeleteTheir way of passing on songs are really similar to birds and their songs. An article I read said that birds learn songs in two ways. Most birds learn songs by listening to others in its species and imitating them. Flycatchers and their relatives, on the other hand, inherit genetic instructions they need to sing the right song. I wonder if all whales learn the songs and the other techniques from others or if there are some that receive genetic information for the techniques.
Article Link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/birdsongs/vocaldev/document_view