Whales Taught Each Other How To Avoid Harpoons

 

Got Any Tips?

Sharing survival tips isn’t exclusively human behavior – Sperm whales do it, too.

A research team recently discovered that the giant marine creatures taught each other how to avoid harpoons when whalers began hunting them 200 years ago, according to Business Insider.

They analyzed digitized logbooks from 19th century American whalers, which contained detailed descriptions of their expeditions in the North Pacific, including the number of whales spotted and harpooned.

The logs, however, showed that out of almost 80,000 recorded ‘voyage days,’ there were only 2,405 successful whale sightings – a meager three percent success rate.

Researchers also noted that the strike rate of whalers’ harpoons fell by nearly 60 percent within two years after they first began hunting in the region.

“Usually, you expect it (strike rate) to increase as they figure out stuff and become more successful,” said lead author Hal Whitehead. “We become more efficient as we learn how to do it.”

But whales got the best of the hunters this time: The authors believe the cetaceans – who live in tight-knit pods – learned how to avoid whalers by swimming against the wind to outrun the ships.

This evasive tactic helped the mammals survive up until the advent of steam engines and grenade harpoons in the 19th century.

“This was cultural evolution, much too fast for genetic evolution,” said Whitehead.