Whales Have Intelligence Just Like Some People
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Whales are smarter than previously thought and can suffer like humans do, scientists have claimed as the future of the giant mammals comes under global debate at IWC talks in Morocco on Monday.
Self-awareness, suffering and a social culture along with high mental abilities are a hallmark of cetaceans, an order grouping more than 80 whales, dolphins and porpoises, say marine biologists.
If this is true, the notion that whales are intelligent and sentient beings threatens to demolish the assumption that they are simply an animal commodity to be harvested from the sea.
That belief lies at the heart of talks unfolding at the International Whaling Commission (IWC), meeting from Monday to Friday in Agadir, Morocco.
A fiercely-contested proposal would authorize whale hunts by Japan, Norway and Iceland for 10 more years, ending a 24-year spell in which these nations – tarred as outlaws by a well-organized green campaign – have snubbed or sidelined the IWC’s moratorium on whaling.
“We now know from field studies that a lot of the large whales exhibit some of the most complex behaviour in the animal kingdom,” said Lori Marino, a neurobiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
A decade ago, Ms Marino conducted an experiment with bottlenose dolphins in which she placed a small mark on their body and had the mammals look at themselves in a mirror.
By the way the dolphins reacted to the image and then looked at the spot, it was clear that they had a sense of self-identity, she determined.
For Georges Chapouthier, a neurobiologist and director of the Emotion Centre at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, self-awareness means that dolphin and whales, along with some higher primates, can experience not just pain but also suffering. READ MORE
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[…] of the dolphins and whales is that these aquatic mammals are intelligent creatures that possess self awareness. They know who they are! They are cultural animals that can learn and teach one another. They […]
Great post, Holte! This is a subject that touches me deeply.
When will man learn that his greedy actions will ultimately destroy every living being on this earth? Nothing is considered sacred anymore!
Thank you Barbara – I wished the subject matter touched everyone.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rosmarinus Stehlik, Holte Ender. Holte Ender said: Whales Have Intelligence Just Like Some People http://bit.ly/91B0aI […]
If we don’t kill them by accident, we kill them anyway.
It was like a blow to my spirit when I read that a dead whale was found in the Gulf. Many dead dolphins have been too. It’s just criminal what humanity does to these creatures, and that’s before the oil catastrophe.
Sometimes I think men are just jealous of other beings in nature, because our many of our cruel actions go well beyond the need for food or income.
Kit… it was a sperm whale and another has shown up at west side of Islandmorada down in the Keys. They scientists have been mystified as to why so ‘few’ bodies are showing up of dolphins, turtles, whales, … until they dropped a camera from a gov. science vessel that measuring the oxygen levels in the Gulf … there are bodies on the sea floor. It’s a hideous truth that needs to known. The madder folks are, the more reactive, the more they will push for no more petro drilling. I’m with Robert Redford… it may cripple us for a few years, but giving up petroleum is necessary.
Hotle! It was a great post!
Whales clearly have more intelligence than humans…as do Dolphins, Turtles, Meerkats, Gorillas, Hamsters, Gerbils, Kangaroos, Hyenas, etc etc etc
What other life form screws up the planet then?
Answers on a postcard please….