Scientists: Whales Are People, Too!

North Atlantic Right Whale Mother And Calf

Whales might not be considered people the way that human beings are considered people, but they might be more like the great apes than we think. Chimps and gorillas, e.g., possess self-awareness, feelings, and high-level cognitive powers. And according to a growing body of scientific research, so do certain whales and dolphins.

Most research into whale “personhood” has been done on bottlenose dolphins, sperm whales, humpback whales, and killer whales. In these species, scientists have seen “considerable social complexity and individual distinction.”

Scientists have developed a number of tests to identify the criteria for personhood; self-recognition, social behavior, tool use, and complex communication and language. For example, it’s been show that dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, and it’s also been documented that a family of dolphins in Australia uses sponges to hunt.

And it appears that cetacean use of sound surpasses that of primates. Dolphins, humpback whales, and sperm whales are believe to “pass songs and codas between generations and individuals.” Some scientists also believe that some distinctive calls made by dolphins and whales are equivalent to names.

Read the whole article at Wired.