Their echolocation abilities are phenomenal; they can determine extraordinary details about everything around them. They use echolocation to hunt and navigate even in dark or murky water. Whale and dolphin brains contain specialized brain cells called spindle neurons. These are associated with advanced abilities such as recognising, remembering, reasoning, communicating, perceiving, adapting to change, problem-solving and understanding.
So it seems they are deep thinkers! Not only that, but the part of their brain which processes emotions limbic system appears to be more complex than our own. It is has been said that play is a great expression of intelligence, and whales and dolphins are gold medallists in this field!
Pods of dolphins leap, tumble, back flip and spin together; and there is often no explicable reason for their behaviour other than pure social enjoyment. Dolphins will race towards boats to surf in the bow wave or play in the wake performing amazing acrobatics. Well, wouldn't you if you could? Some dolphins seek out big waves breaking close to shore and ride the waves alongside surfers, other dolphins prefer to play with plants or shells or other make-shift toys.
In fact, when it comes to creating games, dolphins know few rivals. Many of them enjoy a game of catch, perhaps with a fish or even a turtle, throwing the animal back and forth to each other. Then there are activities that remind us of our games of tag.
One dolphin will nudge another a few times to indicate its willingness for a game, then high-speed pursuit will take place through the sea, as they take turns chasing each other.
Some dolphins have teamed up with other animals in the process of play. Amazing games between bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales have been filmed off the coast of Hawaii. The dolphins swim onto the nose of the whales, which then raise themselves out of the water to a great height, so that the dolphins slide down their heads with a great splash. As the game is repeated over and again, it seems clear that both individuals are enjoying it. In the wild, whale and dolphin play seems to be infectious, revealing an intelligent brain that needs, from time to time, to relax and let off a little steam.
Whale and dolphin communication skills are at the very heart of their cooperative lifestyles and social interactions. Scientists agree that they communicate with each other in sophisticated and at times, novel and interactive ways.
For some, such as bottlenose dolphins and orcas, the complexity of their communication and social interactions is immense; they are incredibly chatty….. Here are two great videos of talks by dolphin expert, Dr Denise Herzing on the subject of dolphin communication. Experts have figured out that some dolphin species use distinct names for one another; they are identifiable, individual whistles sometimes known as signature whistles. Dolphins use their names to identify and call one another.
Infant dolphins learn their names individual whistles from their mothers and keep them for life. Dolphins greet one another at sea by exchanging their names and seem to remember the names of other dolphins for decades.
No other creature, besides humans, is believed to use given names for each other. The ability to recognise yourself in a mirror is often used by developmental psychologists as a measure of intelligence and self-awareness.
Dolphins pass the mirror test with flying colours! This skill is rare. Besides humans, only bottlenose dolphins, chimpanzees, elephants and magpies have been shown to recognize themselves in a mirror. Human children start showing signs of self-recognition at about 12 months at the earliest and chimpanzees at two years old.
Dolphins recognise themselves in a mirror even earlier, at only seven months old. They also muck about, twirling and posing in unusual ways, examining their own movements in the mirror. These behaviours indicate self-awareness of a highly intelligent species. Whales and dolphins use exceptionally clever methods to find and catch their prey, and these reveal great levels of cooperation, intelligence and social learning.
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Orcas have 2nd-biggest brains of all marine mammals. There is at least anecdotal evidence that the sound of human music piqued the whales' curiosity, like when the choir tried singing from a boat last year. A killer whale has been taught to speak human words through her blowhole. Wikie, a year-old captive orca living in a French marine theme park, can be heard in recordings mimicking words such as "hello" and "Amy", and counting "one, two, three".
Orcas have a highly developed paralimbic system and amygdala. A score of or above puts a person in the 99th percentile of the population. News articles often put Einstein's IQ at , though it's unclear what that estimate is based upon. The gorilla, who was said to have an IQ of between 75 and 95, could understand 2, words of spoken English.
The average IQ for humans on many tests is , and most people score somewhere between 85 and
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