#cetacean intelligence

not sure how into this kind of thing you guys are but it’s honestly mind-expanding. if you find this interesting this guy has a few other talks on youtube that are 20-30 minutes. but he’s convinced me that sperm whales are the most intelligent beings in the animal kingdom on the planet (including humans).

Not that I would take a lot of convincing, as I’ve read a lot about this kind of subject and I’ve always been a huge non-human intelligence enthusiast, and I’ve believed dolphins to be at least as intelligent as us for years now, but I’ve never read that much about sperm whales. The fact that they can communicate with each other across thousands of miles, and in some cases from literal opposite faces of the planet, seems to me like they have some kind of built-in physiological internet.

Cetacean Intelligence

-problem solving abilities

-communication

-self awareness

A new paper suggests behavioural studies involving dolphins are flawed, and that claims that they are of superior intelligence are unfounded

Okay. I need to talk about this. I am sick and tired of hearing people tell me that science proved dolphins are dumb.

My biggest problem with this is the misinterpretation of the statement. Dolphins are not stupid. They are not “more stupid than goldfish, chickens and even mealworms.” No. The point of the original statement- dolphins aren’t that smart, is NOT to say that dolphins aren’t that smart. It’s to say that dolphin intelligence is not necessarily special. After all, 'You can use similar arguments to prove that people aren't intelligent.'

It’s to say that just because they have complex language, have large brains, and have shown behaviors that indicate tool use, does not make them above the rest of the animal kingdom.  It’s to say that if we choose to make those factors the basis for intelligence, then we have innumerable species that must also be considered intelligent.

This article is saying that dolphins are not by any means “so very unique” or “super special”. In my own opinion, this statement is probably aimed at people who view dolphins as spiritual, godly beings. In a way, this resonates with the… passionate… groups of wolf-lovers (occasionally called ‘wolfaboos’) who stop seeing wolves as predatory, wild animals who will attack and even kill a human if pressed to (I’m not saying that a wolf will actively seek to harm a human, but like all wildlife, if pushed, they’ll push back) and start seeing them as these romanticized, perfect creatures- almost religious symbols. You have people who become so entangled in this fantasy wolf, that they disregard biological facts and begin to anthropomorphize to a ridiculous extent. You have people who believe that they were wolves in a past life, or are wolves trapped in a human body. Only they can understand wolves. They have a special connection to wolves.

And don’t we see this trend in the cetacean world now? I have heard people say that whales commit suicide by beaching because they cannot bear to live in such an ugly, polluted world. I have heard people say that wild dolphins would gladly kill themselves if it would free their captive brethren. What's worse, these kind of people shame the entire scientific community by demanding the researcher who suggested this lose his position. Put bluntly, it is ridiculous.

  This article is saying that dolphins, like an amazing array of species, possess aspects of physiology or behavior that we use to define intelligence. If anything, the statement really seems to say stop anthropomorphizing dolphins.  As the article concludes, “interpretations of behavior based on 'personal bias' are not helpful… Conservation strategies should not be based on unrealistic expectations… we have to stop describing them as "special".

Listen, I love cetaceans. I love reading about them, I love researching them. They are smart, they are amazing, and there is undeniably a spiritual draw between the human being and an animal so graceful and so deserving of respect and awe.  I hope to someday work with them as a career. But, personal whimsy of ‘I wonder if that dolphin is wondering about me’ simply cannot exist in the scientific, factual context in which the world must be examined. Yes, I am absurdly guilty of feeling in my heart that when I look into a dolphin’s eye that another person is looking back at me. But logically, that’s sheer romance, anthropomorphism. If it cannot be proven, it cannot be considered truth.

From WHALES, a Zoobook, which is written for children and I read while a child, but nevertheless nicely summarizes the question and not-quite answer of cetacean intelligence vs. human intelligence. I think the question of whale intelligence will always plague humans, not only in a quest to treat animals humanely, but to find another species with whom we can share our common, fleeting experience on Earth. It's lonely, being the only ones that know we will die.